While I wouldn’t say that gardening is particularly geeky. The chance to play with 2,500 ladybugs may well be. Along with some new plants for the garden, we picked up a bucket full of ladybugs for our garden this afternoon. Ladybugs are voracious aphid eaters. And ladybugs beget a whole lot more ladybugs, who then eat even more aphids.
Did I spend some time talking with the kids about the incredible characteristics of ladybugs that make them such great natural pest control? Sure. Did we mostly have fun playing with thousands of little bugs? You bet. Kids love bugs. They love lots of bugs a lot.
And if you think that thousands of ladybugs are a lot of fun, you should release thousands of praying mantises. Praying mantises come in egg casings that look like golf ball sized clumps of dirt. When the eggs hatch, hundreds of teeny tiny little praying mantises come streaming out and head for freedom through any hole they can find. Like the ladybugs, praying mantises are some of the most aggressive pest eaters in the garden. And they are as cool looking as the lady bugs are cute. Warning: don’t let your praying mantises hatch inside your house — trust me, they will find a way to get out.
