Stupid worm

This is how my morning began. I went out to the garden to harvest as much kale and cucumber and zucchini as I could fit into a cooler for the next two weeks, since I am off to Martha's Vineyard. As I went by the tomato plants, I noticed that the upper branches looked funny. I inspected closer and realized they were BEING EATEN. Shit. Then I noticed this stuff all over the ground, and upon closer inspection realized I was looking face to face with one of these ugly things. My tomato plants were covered with them. I am sorry, but would you want to touch one of those? They are several inches long and they cling on to the branch with suction cups. They are just icky.

I did what any new gardener would do (what did they do before the internet?) and I quickly googled in creepy slug on my tomato plant. That actually worked, and up popped the Horned Worm. Yep, that was it. The solution? Well you can spray with something that I do not have, and remember, I am organic, so the next solution was to pick them all off. Lovely.

So I took a pair of kitchen tongs and a jar with a lid and off I went and plucked these creepy crawlies off my plants. I collected about ten, and then Peter came out and instantly found three more where I had been staring. Which leads me to believe there are a whole hell of a lot more out there. But I am leaving and will not have time to search for them, which also leads me to believe that when I return my garden will be a ghost town. They eat SOOOOOOOOO much. They are almost amazing. And my question is, why the hell don't they eat the fricking zucchini?

It has been a long day and it's only 11:00!