The Very Hungry Catterpillar

The Very Hungry Caterpillar is an adorable book.  Each page finds a little caterpillar eating through leaves and fruit until...spoiler alert...he turns into a beautiful butterfly and flies away.

In the book, this quest to eat more and more is adorable.  In reality, it's a scourge for a gardener.

I have now killed, yes killed, two very hungry caterpillars and two vicious-looking tomato hornworms.

To be honest, the caterpillar murder was involuntary bugslaughter.  I was trying to pluck them off my plants so I could just toss them over the fence.  (Their chances of survival being somewhat increased.)  Unfortunately, there was an accident that involved a slipping cinder block and a bit of cursing.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Now, there's still something eating my plants.  At this point, I can take my pick.  Between snails, slugs and earwigs, it's a wonder anything ever grows.

I tried to negotiate a peace treaty.  I specifically planted extra sprouts for them to eat until their little bug hearts are content.  In return, they were to stay away from my main garden.  In a blatant violation of the Treaty of the Peas, they used my sacrificial plants an a mere appetizer, moving on to the main course of my garden.

So.  They have to die.  It's quite simple, really.  The broke the treaty.  They brought it on themselves.

There's a great gardening quote:

"In gardens, beauty is a by-product. The main business is sex and death." ~Sam Llewelyn

How right you are, Mr. Llewelyn.  How right you are.