18,000 Ladybugs Ready to Release!
Well, the kids and I had some good ol’ ladybug fun a few weeks ago. Ladybugs are voracious predators of many soft-bodied and small insects that devour our organic produce. That combined with the fact that I hate spraying- even organically-allowed-naturally-derived sprays, means that we use ladybugs! I order them every spring from a great company (Arborico Organics), and the kids have a ball shaking them out into the garden. They search out and munch all kinds of pests that I can’t even see. They work 24/7, and then they lay eggs and the cycle gets even better. The nymphs that hatch are even hungrier and more successful at their search and destroy mission. Today we saw ladybugs really working the crops, and that is a great thing to behold. We released 9,000 in March and then about 18,000 at the first of May. Many of them do fly off to find their own way in the world, some of them fall prey to other predators out there, but most stick around. All summer long, we will see them working away in the fields, and you sure can’t beat that.
