There is a jungle in my collards

I'm thinking this is some sort of army worm.

Aphids

Southern Armyworm, Spodeptera eridania? (The question mark means I don't really know)

A different angle of these two paling around

Newly borns

The ubiquitous diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella 

Neon slime

Neon spidie

Another diamondback moth

Army worm?

Metamorphosis 

Who says I never host parties?

Shredage

The yellowstriped armyworm I beleive, Spodoptera ornithogalli

The curl up self defense, not particularly effective

WONG CHUCK

Bambusa textilis ‘Kanapaha’

Looks like this now but will look like this in only 30 some odd years.

Salad Bed

 

December 11th 2011 Seeded 

January 13th 2012

 January 28th 2012 Four Large Salad Bowls Later

The Coldest Month of the Year

Dig it up and try it again

Roots have done a good job invading the three original raised beds, which I am faulting along with the nematodes for making it look like I didn't know what I was doing. I am going to take two approaches to both these problems. Plan one was the don't the leave the house plan. I dug up the bed and made a small trench along the edge. I hopefully broke up most of the root growth that was in bed. I then lined it with cardboard to discourage at least temporarily the roots from returning. I suspect most roots are the mulberry's which seems to be an especially aggressive tree. For the second bed I am going to leave the house and buy things. I am going to get some sort ground cloth and crab meal.

NEMATODES

Basil didn't seem bothered by them but the radishes were unhappy about something. Two of the raised beds have them bad. I am going to apply crab meal before I replant and hope for the best.

Roly Poly

Roly pollies are everywhere in my raised vegetable beds. The ground twists and churns with them. But are they a friend or foe in the eternal garden battle of who eats what? A recent night offered some evidence that the adorable Armadillidium vulgare was the enjoying  my vegetables.

 Research on the internet offered suggested that's possible but unlikely.  Armadillidium vulgare is not an insect but rather a crustacean and breathes through its gills which is why it most often found in moist conditions. Their nocturnal and they eat "fungi, decaying plant matter as well as young plant growth, and sometimes dead animal matter."They have predators including ants which have recently moved into one the beds. They are definitely munching on my seedlings but the question is are they taking the big bites or nibbling on what others left? Almost an entire bed that I had planted with brassicas, and chard before Thanksgiving was devoured to the stem by something while I was gone. There are other suspects I have found several caterpillars, and a twostriped walking stick Anisomorpha buprestoides or as it's also known a Devil's Riding Horse. In the defense of the Devil's Riding Horse I didn't see it eating anything.