Pests

No, it doesn't all go smoothly. Not at all.

There are pests, that involve themselves at all stages, from growth to storage and consumption.

As I was cycling past my emergent fig orchard, I suddenly perceived that one portion of the leaves on the biggest tree had been reduced to skeletons by some pest. The perception occurred almost as in slow motion - "By Christ! What the...?! My biggest fig...!"

It was some kind of horrible hairy caterpillar that was all over the leaves in a most promiscuous fashion. I cut them all in half with garden scissors. Fortunately the smaller, more vulnerable plants were untouched, although surely vigilance is required.

Then in the arvo when I went into my garlic stock, I found some very significant dust all around, and on closer inspection, blatant round holes in the stalks. I knew there had been little beetles visiting when the garlic was drying, and clearly their offspring had been at work since. Some of the individual cloves had brown bite marks on the flesh inside the skin, and where I was prepared to sacrifice a clove to scientific investigation, I found a nasty little maggot at the heart of the clove.

My onions, carelessly thrown into an orange 'kyari', have also been rotting somewhat at the bottom of the basket. Next year, I'll be more careful.