A bit of a problem ...

My row of swiss chard is being decimated by spinach (or beet) leaf miners. Bummer. I don't know if I'll be able to save it.



In the second picture, if you look closely (click picture to enlarge it) you can see little white eggs on the left in the space between my fingers.

I went out with the scissors this evening and cut off every--I hope--infected leaf. I'll double check in the morning. I'll leave it in for a week and observe what it does. I may end up pulling it out and putting in something else. Won't put chard back in that same spot as new leafminers can surface from the ground. Leafminers are small flies which lay their eggs on the leaves. The newly hatched larvae burrow into the leaf and start eating away. After a week or so they pupate and fall into the soil from whence new flies will emerge.

-- Just a little pause... I'm hearing the barred owl out back as I type this. Lovely. --

I was just reading that NH has seen significant leafminer infestations the past few years. Sigh.

We humans are not alone here on earth and all the other critters are hungry as well! It's all part of the picture. Now it wouldn't be so bad if the critters could learn the difference between garden plants and weeds! As far as I'm concerned they can eat all the weeds they want. Who knew a little fly could be such a gourmand?

The rose is close by the row of chard and it is in it's full glory at the moment. The fragrance is divine.



I am picking my lunch these days.



As well, the row of radishes is now completely harvested. I will think about what to replace it with. They did well this year.