Tomato Hornworm caterpillar

Manduca quinquemaculata. I noticed the damage yesterday on my Goose Creek tomato, and meant to find the bugger, but got distracted. Today it continued its rampage until I found it. Though very large (more than two inches long), these caterpillars are very hard to find, since they so closely resemble a tomato leaf. I find them by gently shaking the plant -- the hornworm "leaf" weighs so much more that it continues to bob after I stop shaking.

Given how quickly tomatoes grow, the damage they cause is pretty minor. I let the kids decide -- bucket of soapy water, or happy home next to the Swallowtail caterpillars. The kids gave me pollice verso and he's now contentedly munching on some tomato suckers I pulled for his delight.

Seed update

From Isaac's observation journal...

Column 2, 3 (Summer Glory) -- lots of sprouts, some large, some small.
Column 4 (Epazote)-- no germination yet
Column 5 (Amaranth) -- two cells sprouted
Column 6 (Lagos Spinach) -- spotty germination
Column 7 (Basil) -- great germination
Column 8, 9 (Queensland Lettuce) -- fair germination
Column 10 (Cachucha) -- no germination yet

Seeds for summer harvest...

Parks dome, rows:
10 Cachucha pepper (thanks, Felix!)
8, 9 Queensland lettuce
7 Basil
6 Lagos spinach
5 Amaranth
4 epazote
3,2 sumer glory lettuce blend
(IAD)

Onions!

I got onion sets in December -- seventy-five onions for a couple bucks.
The onions are sweet (like red onions from the store) but with just a bit of heat on the finish. These are the first I've harvested. Very tasty.

A garden update in pictures

My first 'Miniature White' cucumber... I planted these at the end of August... They're supposed to bear in forty-nine days. Not too far off. Healthy, low, bushing plant. Plenty of vigor. Lots of blossoms, though it took weeks of male flowers before it started to fruit.

Forsythia Sage. Very striking & attractive to hummers and butterflies.

The kids' salad garden continues to grow.

Salvia 'Anthony Parker', a (presumed) cross between S. leucantha 'Midnight' x S. elegans (Pineapple sage). I'm told it gets to be three feet by four feet farther north, which likely means a good bit larger down here. I hope it's a less unruly than 'Indigo Spires'.

Family fun...

Hunting for the elusiva batata...

It's as big as 'is 'ead!

Fortunately I like sweet potatoes...