Good Bugs, Bad Bugs

Yesterday I went out to inspect my lurvlies, my plants, and discovered something amiss. My radish flower stems, some of them, were awash in little fuzzy grey bodies. Oh NOES! I cried. Aphids.
Anyone who has a garden they pay much attention to knows aphids are a big ol' pain. These suckers (literally, they have a soda straw like appendage for sucking the life force out of your tender young shoots.)Are BORN PREGNANT and give birth to live young who are, you guessed it, already carrying new live young. WHA? Gross. The phrase "multiply like rabbits" shall dually be replaces with "multiply like aphids", I decree it!
Anyways, this is one reason why paying attention to things pays off, as they were still only on the radishes, and broccoli, which has not yet formed flower buds. Some insecticidal soap and a shower later, they are in check. At least for now. Today there are many little shriveled aphid carcasses and I also saw some predatory flies munching on them. I also found leaf hoppers hiding nearby. Hopefully these good garden bugs will help keep the aphids in check.

And speaking of good garden bugs, you may not have much love for the following: maggots, sow bugs (pill bugs, rolly pollys), centipedes, beetles (all sorts), worms (red and night crawler), flies and spiders. I however do, so long as they are doing work for me and not doing it in the house.
I turned my compost pile today, where kitchen scraps and yard waste are being turned into valuable composted goodness in my yard, partiality aided by the above 'vermin".
Teaming took on new meaning as every time I lifted a forkful of compost pile there was a massive scurry of bugs that don't like light hiding. Amazing, so many things. So much life. The bugs are only part of the story as well. There was the most delicate little mushroom, about 2 inches high, pale blue grey with a little bell cap. I can’t see the bacteria but I know they are there. (Where aren’t they really?) There is fungus I can't see as well. Enzymes, molds, who knows whats. And the pile does not smell like rotting garbage as you might be thinking. It smells like dirt, like the underside of a log, like damp earth and rain. Like life.

Someday I will write a big ole post on decomposers and composts and why it's super easy and you should do it. But not today. I will just enjoy my bug friends and not enjoy my bug foes and truly enjoy my tomatoes.