Tuesday, April 27, 2010

I'll bet you didn't know

...lots of the random information that I'm about to share with you.

1. Lots of people learn in elementary school that lady bugs (which are actually beetles, not bugs) are good because they eat aphids. But, did you know that lady bug larvae look like alligators?! Seriously, they're awesome and crawling all over our crops right now.


2. Harlequin bugs (Murgantia histrionica) are not our friends, as they like to eat cabbage, kale, collards, etc. - but they look pretty cool, and their eggs are even cooler. Check it out.

har·le·quin: a comic character in commedia dell'arte and the harlequinade, usually masked, dressed in multicolored, diamond-patterned tights, and carrying a wooden sword or magic wand.

los huevos del bug harlequin

3. There are a multitude of weeds out there that are not only edible, but more nutritional than most "conventional" greens. This evening, my salad consisted of some volunteer lettuce, violet leaves, and lamb's quarters. Yes, those pretty little purple (roses are red, violets are...?) flowers are a weed. I've pulled up more of them in the past three weeks than I'd like to remember. But, they're also pretty high in vitamin C. Lamb's quarters (Chenopodium album, for you science-folks) are a summer weed that are COVERING the farm right now (hooray for weeding... ugh), but have lots of vitamin A, C, iron, and even some protein.

go eat some lamb's quarters!

4. Picking strawberries suckssss. I am 100% over strawberries now. We're picking about 60 pounds every other day and it's back-breaking work. They're delicious and beautiful, but I'm over it.

5. The town that has become my new stomping ground (when not on the farm) is the coolest. This video proves and explains it:

2 comments:

  1. NOTE: I've taken all of the photos posted in this blog so far... except for the ones in this post. That would have required me to go hunt for the lady bugs and little harlequins after I was done in the fields for the day, so I resorted to the internet this time. Please don't hate me.

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  2. amazing - who knew ladybug babies looked like that? and those are by far the prettiest insect eggs i've ever seen. thanks for teaching me something new about bugs, lisa!

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