The Inch Worm

My first encounter with an inch worm made my skin crawl for a few seconds.

I've put two tomato plants in the ground. I have a few more leftover plants still in their containers. For back-up. You know, just in case the plants in the ground... die...Yup. It is good to have back-up. So, I was doing my usual morning check-up on each plant. That is when I noticed one leaf was starting to wilt. I quickly picked up the container and got a closer look. What? This particular plant has always been a real trooper. Not once has it ever drooped or wilted during the early morning. Slowly, I looked under a leaf and there it was. All in its green and wiggly splendor. 

My first thought was, "Yikes! I don't want it to touch me!" Then my second thought was, "Awesome! My first tomato pest! Ooooo. Could this be a hornworm??" I took a closer look. Nope. I didn't think it was a hornworm. I took this query to the internet and asked some folks in a gardening group what their thoughts were. Some said it was a type of caterpillar and to annihilate it on the spot.

So, that's just what I did. Okay, first I used a basil leaf to remove it from the plant. Then I dropped it n the patio. I sprayed it with lemon scented soapy water. Finally, I whacked it with a spade.

...

Okay, so maybe I had a little too much fun annihilating my first tomato pest. But it's gone and dead! Extra dead! Muahahaha!

A couple of weeks later, I showed a picture of this critter to my Gramma. She told me it was an inch worm.

I think all of this could have been prevented if I just kept on dropping fresh basil leaves at the base of each tomato plant. I stopped for a couple of days then this fella showed up. Now I know! Basil seems to work for me.