Written for Weekly Prompts Weekend Challenge and
Weekly Prompts Wednesday Challenge where the
required words are “wrong” and “hoarding”. This is my haibun.
The exact year escapes me but it was a long time ago, to be sure. It was the summer we returned from vacation to find our tomatoes had ripened into gorgeous red orbs ready for eating. I could practically smell that grassy-green, spicy-sweet summery aroma. But something seemed wrong, off somehow. I felt like I was not alone in my garden, like I was being watched. Taking a closer look, I discovered disturbingly large caterpillars feasting on our lovely harvest. The bloated green creatures blended in so well with the underside of the leaves, it took a few seconds to register why our crop was full of gaping holes. Probing, boring, ravaging, gorging, hoarding. No tomato was salvaged that summer. Not one. That was the year I stopped planting tomatoes.
garden interlopers
devastation
signaling summer’s end
NAR©2024
This is “End of Summer” featuring Katie Melua and L.U.C. from The Peasants soundtrack
All text, graphics and videos are copyright for The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephant’s Trunk and The Rhythm Section and are not to be used without permission. NAR©2017-present.
The Elephant's Trunk 
The Very Hungry Caterpillar’s less fun when it’s in your veggie garden.
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True! I don’t remember this much devastation in the book! 🐛
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So sad and disheartening! Culprit caterpillars! I can imagine the scene, Nancy.
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It was an ugly mess, KK, and a bit frightening, too; those caterpillars were very large! Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
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You’re so very welcome!
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The caterpillars destroying your tomatoes was tragic. On the other hand these ugly invaders might become beautiful butterflies. There are always two sides to a story.
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You make a good point, Gerry. If they do transform into butterflies, there’s a chance they may be as big as owls! They were some hefty caterpillars. 🐛
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Tragic and disheartening! I gave up on vegetable gardening because of Japanese beetles, and rapacious red squirrels. 😭
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Disheartening is exactly what it is! Up til then we always had a great batch of tomatoes. There’s nothing like the aroma when you slice into a rich ripe home grown. 😊
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Oh and potatoes, fresh from the ground and scrubbed clean! Boiled up with a little butter and salt! Sigh.
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Makes for a yummy meal! 😛🥘
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One can, with the right reverent attitude, dine on a single potato. Or a tomato!
(Okay, I’m done! 🥰
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Oh, what a thing to have happened. Thank you for sharing this with our two challenges.
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So much time and work for naught. Since then I haven’t had the heart to plant again.
Thank you, Sue. It’s always a pleasure to join in your challenges.
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Oh no! A good crop gone to waste.
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Yes! Every tomato ruined! 😥
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Sadness
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