Feast For The Frogs!

  At daybreak, the Boysenberries were sparkling like jewels on the vines. My bucket was fast filling to the brim which made me smile as I thought of the delicious pie that I had made just the night before.  These, however, would be made into jelly.  Picking was easy since these berries are huge.  Normally, I reach in, grab a berry and plop it in the bucket with nary a thought.  Perhaps I should change my method as one berry was covered with critters!  Ugh!

  One adult leaffooted bug was surrounded by a whole slew of nymphs. This, in itself, was a tad strange as the bugs do not care for their young. They lay the eggs and leave.  The eggs and nymphs are left on their own. But it was not the presence of the adult that frustrated me.  Those rascals were sucking the juice right out of my berries!  Nope, not happening!  Sorry. Bugs you have to go.  While I hate spraying chemicals on my plants that provide food, I am not adverse to snipping a limb and tossing it into the frog pond.  There the frogs can do the dirty work.  Sure enough, once the branch hit the water, the nymphs scattered. This sent the frogs into a feeding frenzy which did nothing but make me smile!  Way to go, froggies!  

  The leaffooted bugs are a regular nuisance as they not only suck the juice from fruit, they can ruin entire crops depending upon their numbers.  With my berries under attack, it was only commonsense to eradicate this bunch while they were still nymphs. It only takes a few days before they mature enough to lay a billion (at least it seems that way) eggs on the underside of the leaves.  Our lack of winter this past year seems to have graced us with more bugs than necessary.  My contribution is to feed the frogs as many as possible.  Love my frogs!