Chomping the calliandra

Can you count all the caterpillars and the hoverfly in this picture?

We planted pink powder puff calliandras to trail up the two patio support posts in our back yard. The one with the most new growth attracted tons of green caterpillars ... which quickly became big green caterpillars. None of them has gone into a cocoon yet. Once they get big the birds eat them. They are always replaced by new baby caterpillars.

I was picking the caterpillars off at first, because I did not want them to wreck my plant. But my mom -- who is a beneficial bug expert -- convinced me to let them do their thing. It's been fun for me and the kids to watch them get big ... and then become food for all the birdies in our yard.

 1 big greenie

1 little fuzzy

2 big greenies and a hoverfly

Community garden ... in my "backyard"

I've been loving my raised bed in the community garden over in Palm Desert. Plenty of posts here are testament to that.

But the stars have aligned, all my ducks are in a row, the ink has dried, the dishes are done ... and there will soon be a 5-by-10-foot raised bed about 20 feet from my back patio door. Just in time for end-of-January planting.

Long ago (last August), at a homeowners association board meeting I asked if the HOA could spare a small space for residents to grow things. The board told me to gather some other interested folks and come back later. I posted a few notices and sat by my computer waiting for the excited emails to come pouring in.

And ... I heard from one guy who wanted to build the garden with me. Better than zero! But then right about that time I got into the Palm Desert garden, so starting a my own community garden from scratch quickly lost its appeal.

Fast-forward to this month when I happened to attend another board meeting, just to see if they were still considering letting me do build the garden.

Surprise! Before I could really say anything, the board voted to let me try a test garden right by my home. Here is what it looks like now: