Tomatoes, Hornworms and Chickens – Another country life adventure

Update: Our brave little tomato plant that took on the hornworms and barely survived is doing its best to recover. Check out these pics.

There’s nothing like growing your own food—especially when you’re twelve years old and you love tomatoes.

My grandson’s pride and joy this summer has been a cherry tomato plant that has provided us with bowls of delicious tomatoes. And that’s saying something, because I don’t even like tomatoes that much! This one plant thrived so much, we had to add extra support, a 5-gallon bucket, and a tomato cage just to keep all the vines upright.

Picking the tomatoes and tasting them at different stages of ripeness became a daily ritual. Iyan was on a mission to discover the exact perfect moment to harvest each one.

But last week, while we were out of town, disaster struck.

A Tomato Hornworm discovered our plant—and invited a few friends. By the time we got home, our once-bushy, thriving tomato plant had been stripped of its leaves. Most of the tomatoes had a single bite or two taken out of them. Iyan was horrified. As novice gardeners, we had never considered that a bug would attack our plant.

We wasted no time removing the offending caterpillars and offering them to our chickens, who responded as if we’d served Thanksgiving dinner. They gobbled up the hornworms and half-eaten tomatoes. The chickens were so excited with their treat that a few squabbles broke out over the last caterpillar. Iyan stood guard, making sure every last caterpillar was accounted for.

Now we’re doing our best to nurse the plant back to health. If you have any tips or suggestions, let us know.