I just thought everyone could use some sheep. These aren’t usually in the corral but grazing somewhere over the mesa. I’ve seen a man on horseback with three dogs herding these animals through the piñon and juniper. It’s quite a sight. Once I had to stop in the road for the herd to pass.
Not your average neighborhood
Two years ago another neighbor’s cows got loose, and three of them came within a foot of my garden. Cows have nothing on grasshoppers, though. This year there just isn’t any garden. First they ate the lettuce (as in “disappeared”). Then they ate the leaves off the tomato plants, next the stems. They ate the pepper plants, one of which had a large green bell pepper on it. The pepper vanished completely between 9:00 a.m. and noon. I set out some herbs that were supposed to repel insects: the next day, I couldn’t find them — the herbs, not the grasshoppers. They ate the lavender. They ate the parsley. They ate three healthy squash plants down to the nub. They’ve eaten 90 percent of all the flowers we planted.
I have to get much more serious about this. When there are no more supermarkets, will the grasshoppers disappear too? I don’t think so.
Related posts:
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Totally bibilical.
What gets me is that the native vegetation is apparently untouched. These ‘hoppers are only going after my garden plants. Of course, there’s so much native vegetation, how would I ever know whether any of it has been nibbled on or not? I’m surrounded by miles of sagebrush, chamisa, piñon, and juniper…
People have tried to sell me on a grasshopper control regimen, but the way I understand it, after two weeks, half the grasshoppers are sick. That’s not good enough.
Applause for using an organic solution.
Yeah, that’s good stuff. Can’t remember what they call it. Makes the ‘hoppers sterile, actually. I’d never use poison, ever. But it appears that the only real solution will be to raise greens and veggies under a screen. That’s what I’ll do next year.