Eastern Leaf-footed Bug

The eastern leaf-footed bug is a common, minor, garden and agricultural pest. A variety of species of leaf-footed bugs can be found in a wide range from the southern United States to as far South as Panama. This family of bugs feeds on plants with their sap sucking mouth parts, often damaging the fruits and nuts of the host plant. Citrus fruits here in Georgia, and even more commonly Florida, are known to attract the eastern leaf-footed bug in particular.

This photograph was taken on one of our catalpa trees. This individual bug was on one of the many bean like seed pods. Each seed pod had its own attacker, seemingly claiming the pod for his own. I doubt the bugs will damage the seeds ability to germinate, and the seeds aren't edible, so they can dine on catalpa pods for now... But they'll also happily feast on peaches and black eyed peas and all sorts of other edible things common here in the South, some of which we may grow in the future. Just one more reason we need some chickens.

Stick Bug

Stick bugs are a member of the order Phasmatodea from the ancient Greek phasma, which means phantom, an obvious allusion to their camouflage. There are many different varieties of phasmids, some look like sticks, others like leaves. They are obviously difficult to spot, this one almost got sawed in half by accident.

They are slow moving and most don't fly, although a few species can, particularly the smaller, lighter males. They also have compound eyes which gives them good night vision. They grow by molting and as they age their eyes become more light sensitive and they become more and more nocturnal. I found this guy in the middle of a cloudy afternoon. I had been clearing a lot of brush in the area so I'm not sure that he was out moving around, it's more likely that I disturbed him during his daytime nap.

Their reproductive exploits are fascinating as well. They often copulate for days or even weeks at a time. One species of stick bug, Necroscia sparaxes, holds the record for longest mated pairing among all insects... at 79 days. I'm pretty sure my wife would kill me and eat me well before the third month.

While their feeding habits can be damaging to some trees, especially during intense outbreaks, the damage is typically not widespread since they don't get around very well. They usually prefer dining on the leaves of undergrowth in mature forests, so they actually promote the larger trees ability to succeed. Hopefully this guy is munching on our abundant blackberry leaves and not stunting little oak saplings.

The Shed

Just as you pass through the old farm gate in the old fence line and enter the food forest is this inconspicuous little spot on the left hand side of the driveway. Our first idea for shed placement was closer to the front but we wanted something in the shade, central and away from the road. This spot looked level and didn't have too many large trees so I went out there one day and cleared it out to see what we were working with.

Removing the privet tangle opened up the vast majority of the space, but was by far the easiest third of the job. The two trees along the left not immediately on the old fence line would need to come down, mainly for fear of them later coming down on the shed. Also, that beastly looking poison ivy vine on the old gate post would definitely have to go.

I took out the poison ivy first, gradually chopping it up into 3' pieces and moving it entirely with an old pair of bypass loppers. I used them like tongs and tried to keep my distance. I must be one of those people that poison ivy doesn't bother because that stuff was everywhere and I didn't develop a rash.

I went back a second day and took down the two pines growing off the fence line, they were each probably 25 years old or so. I processed the branches and upper portions of the tree into smaller pieces and dragged them to nearby brush piles. The bottom 20' of each trunk I cut into 10' lengths and saved for use in the construction of a log cabin style chicken coop for which I'm gathering supplies.

Meredithe and I came back on a third day and removed large branches along the driveway to clear space for our new shed. It was to be delivered that afternoon and the process by which they unloaded it from the trailer and moved it into place was fascinating. They used a machine called a mule, which kind of looked like a forklift, to drag the shed off of the trailer. They put the other end on two wheels and drove it back and into place. The company we purchased from builds on site, but this shed was previously rented, repossessed and we purchased it at a discounted rate.

We love our new shed! It has all of the extras we wanted, a loft, the sturdier barn door upgrade, a metal roof upgrade and I can't imagine picking any other color. It was even wired for four outlets and a light. I'll have to rewire some of it, but free hardware is free hardware. It'll be nice to have dry work space and storage on the farm. Now where did I put those logs, I'm ready to build a chicken coop...