My Tomato Plants!!

I find it very ironic that my last post was regarding my beloved cherry tomatoes.  They are so pretty, and the plants were full of foliage, new blooms and thriving.  Thriving I tell you!  

This past weekend we went away for a work-related retreat sponsored by my husband's company 

at a State park (more on that later).  Work for him meant relaxation and fun for me and my youngest son.  It was very nice.   I have a new appreciation for State parks.  

But I digress....

After hauling in all of our stuff, checking the mail and phone messages, I headed outside to check my tomato plants. I do not have a true "garden area" and my plants are nestled amongst lantana and other bushes that border our front sidewalk. 

To my horror, all I could see were stripped limbs at the tops of the plants! What the heck??

 Naked, upper limbs!

I had a sneaky suspicion of the who the culprit was (tomato worm), but I hate creepy, crawly things!  However, for the well-being of my plants, I had to investigate.  So, I put on my big-girl britches and started looking.   At first, I could not find anything, but then upon closer inspection, I found this:

It was fat and chowing down on my tomato leaves!! Yikes - what to do? Why, grab the camera of course!

I checked the second plant and did not see anything, I searched and searched.  Then, after getting on my knees and searching underneath - I found this one:

He was underneath the leaves munching away - fat and happy like his partner.  There were two of those suckers to deal with.  I am a southern gal and grew up digging for worms for fishing, but as an adult, I really hate touching those things, especially the big fat ones! The male members of our household had grown bored with the worms and were inside watching TV.  It was up to me to get these worms OFF of my plants!

So, I pinched off the stem the first one was attached to.....

                                                                                                           

 

And led the second onto on a stick.....

And then, I set them free.......

Free to live, free to just be.....

BUT - they better leave my tomato plants alone!!

xoxo,

SouthernSass