Homesteading Middles: The Year of the Caterpillar

Earlier this month there was a missive from Bean’s school. As the Hudson Valley deals with the deluge of spongy moth caterpillar, small dark caterpillars that can cause skin irritations… students will be kept off blacktops and playgrounds to limit the chances of exposure.

I was flummoxed. Spongy moth caterpillars?* Falling from the sky? Two days later in the soccer fields I continually picked off 1/2 inch long black wiggles from skin, clothing, bag, water bottle, chair, other people’s shirts, etc. They are falling from a clear sky and I am at least 300 yards from the tree line. What in the world?!

And both children broke out in itchy hives wherever one lingered too long on bare skin.

So we sprayed the currants and apples with kaolin clay - and hoped that was the end of it.

Turns out those wee ones were just the baby caterpillars. The gentle entryway into the whopping voracious eating machines that would follow. To denude the majestic shade oaks, the blueberries bushes, the plum trees, the apple trees, the currant bushes, the pear trees, the crabapple trees, the baby oaks, the pecan trees… plants with high leaf tannins enticing, beckoning, inviting the maw of the ravaging horde.

We sprayed neem oil. We sprayed bacillus thuringiensis. We sprayed more kaolin clay.

Frass continually falls from the oaks. The rain-like patter agitates and infuriates me. The nourishing soundtrack of a gentle rain sprinkle now signifying death and destruction.

Almost in tears last week, I spent time manically wrapping packing tape around the oak closest to us. The fuckers found tunnels in the bark and went right up regardless. Since then I have learned from a friend’s heartbreaking experience with a bluebird - tree tape is not ideal for a whole bunch of reasons.

So, here we are. Hoping we have sprayed enough. Hoping the big trees will be able to re-leaf. Hoping the caterpillars will finally get full. Praying to the smaller trees and bushes that they will survive this onslaught.

And yes, I know, the spongy moths are supposed to be here and if we have plants that don’t make it that is supposed to happen etc etc.

But that doesn’t mean I can’t experiment with wrapping trees with burlap and see if that helps.

Both And - always and in all things.

*Formerly known as gypsy moth caterpillars.