Kakahead

Here in West Michigan, it’s the height of planting season.  We had a wet, cold spring this year so I’m a bit behind getting stuff in the ground.  I did get my plants in pretty early though.

“Gotta get yer peas and potatoes in by Good Friday,” Grandpa Bunny used to always say.  Well I didn’t quite make it.  Just a week before we had quite a bit of rain.  Since we live in Bear Swamp, I knew full well that tilling the garden would be very much like running a rototiller in ankle deep chocolate pudding.

So I waited a bit.  Went to Weesies just before Mothers Day to buy my plants before the rush came.  Around here, all the veggie plants become slim pickin’s by Memorial Day.  Of course, if you let your peppers, eggplant, and tomatoes sit in those little tray thingies for very long they get root-bound.  Therefore, each year I “commit sacrilege” by putting my frost sensitive plants in the ground before Memorial Day.

I love to share my adventures in the garden  When I tell my friends I’ve had my peppers, eggplant, and tomatoes in the ground for almost three weeks, their eyes get big and they shake their heads and say things like:    “Aren’t you worried about frost??”  “I thought you weren’t supposed to put anything like that in until after Memorial Day!!”  I reassure them that it’s very OK so long as you have enough “hot caps” to cover each one if there’s a danger of frost.

“Hot caps??”  they ask quizzically.  “Yeah, you know, buckets,” I explain.  “Keep them handy so you can put them upside down over the plant before you go to bed.  That way when the frost comes they don’t get killed.  But make sure you take them off first thing in the morning or your plants will get roasted inside those things.”  They’ll say “OOoohh…” but I can sense they are wondering whether I’m OK in the noodle or not.  Of course when they hear I went to Dollar General and spent $50 on buckets they may really think I’m nuts (at least they were made in the U.S.!!).  Seven buckets at $1.75 each and 13 waste baskets at $2.25.  The guy at Dollar General said, “you must have a lot of trash!!”

Hot caps or no, there’s nothing quite so unnerving as carefully planting your baby tomatoes, etc. and waking up the next day to find a decapitated stem with its head lying next to it.  It’s happened to me… but only once.  The stupid pest didn’t even have the decency to eat the leaves that fell to the ground!!  Here’s a picture of the culprit:

A cutworm... photo by Neil Phillips, UK

It’s called a cutworm.  It’s not a worm at all, but a caterpillar; and after it devours the stalk of your baby plant it curls up just under the soil and takes a nap.  Then off it goes later to search for another.

Well I learned about cutworm collars after one of my babies got decapitated all those seasons ago, and I’ve been using them ever since.  Very easy to make, I simply cut the bottom off of a paper drinking cup.  I use paper coffee cups from the vending machine at work.  I simply flatten the cup and cut about 1 ½ inches from the bottom and turn it upside down over the plant.  Then I press it into the soil just a bit so the wind won’t blow it away, and also making sure the leaves of the plant are above the cup.  Here’s an example:

Paper Cup Cutworm Collar

Something like that.

Well, enough of this monkey business.  This video has absolutely nothing to do with cut collar worms.  I’ve never grown Black Eyed Peas, but in my professional opinion, this video of theirs is a lot of fun.  So there.