lady business

As in ladybugs. That's right, I discovered aphids on my lettuce, basil, and tomato leaves this year. No good. On the upside, I found a local purveyor of ladybugs. So, I ended up with 1500 ladybugs, which I decided to release in two separate batches. If you haven't had the pleasure of releasing roughly 750 ladybugs, let me tell you it's a bit of an adventure...especially when you add the fact that ladybugs should be released in the dark (they're more sluggish and inclined to settle in and lay some eggs before departing). The other thing is that you're going to end up carrying hitchhiking ladybugs to bed and work. Just accept it.  

This one came to work with me. It crawled inside my printer.
I was like, "No, no, no, no, no!" No worries. It emerged unscathed. 

The ladybugs hang out in this mesh bag, which is kept in the fridge until you're ready to put them to work. 

They go everywhere: pots, watering cans, hands, hair, and so on. 

But they also find their way to some actual plants. 

Hooray! 

Lucky for me, the second round of ladybug release took place while Catherine was visiting. She was initially resistant to participating, but once the ladybugs woke up, she took over and released them all. And I only found one ladybug in the house afterwards! Let that be a lesson to you: release ladybugs with a sister.