"First thing we’re going to do today is to remove the Colorado potato beetle larvae from the potato plants. When you find them, just squish them in between your fingers but be careful that they don’t pop their guts in your face."
I am not a bug person, so I am not a bug-squishing person neither. I didn't want to admit my squeamishness, so it was time to become an bug person. Deep inside, I was hoping not to find any, and I hoped that if I did, the larvae would be small (like a couscous grain) and not like the size of a elbow pasta. I found a few in between those sizes, and squeezed away. I did not get any bug guts splashed in my face but it still was a icky feeling, squeezing these fat wormy things. My fingers and thumb on my right hand was stained with the blood of these larvae. It was gross.
My next tasks were not very exciting. I gathered from the rocks from the beds to make rock bags and re-adjusted watering hoses tucking them within the edges of the beds and away from the grassy edges. (The small walking fields that separate the growing areas can now be mowed without the plastic irrigation pipes being shredded.)
I went to the far corner near the beehives for these jobs and normally the bees keep to their business and I keep to mine. Well, I was targeted by a small swarm of bees and felt them swirling my head. I was swatting them away with both arms flailing (breaking the first rule of how-to-prevent-bee-stings) and then I felt a pain in my temple. I swatted again, and my glasses went flying. I was too stressed to look for them, lifted my shirt over my head and face, and walked in the direction of the rest area. Luckily it was break-time, and I told my story. I was told that honey was taken from the bees yesterday. Yeah, well, thanks for telling me that now.
I went with Beth who kindly recovered my glasses and then briskly moved away. I got stung again, this time in the chest. It is not fun to be stung. I was given a tablet of Benadryl equivalent and continued making my rock bags, away from the bees, until my shift was over.
Distribution included: Garlic scapes (5), 2 heads of lettuce, kohlrabi, kale or swiss chard, greens (golden frill, aragula), head of napa cabbage, spinach, 1 summer squash, small broccoli, cauliflower, Garlic (uncured).
