Have You Been Bitten by the Coconino Garden Bug?
By Cindy Murray
One mid-summer a number of years ago, as I was showing my daughter our garden, a giant grasshopper alighted upon a corn leaf. In the blink of an eye, I swiped it up, threw it to the ground and stomped on it. Appearing horrified, Carrie exclaimed, “Ewww Mom, that’s disgusting!” I replied, “Oh sorry!” I was following what seems like a natural impulse to me now. “I’m trying to keep pesky grasshoppers out of our corn.” I now know this behavior was a sign that I had been bitten by the Coconino Garden Bug. Curiously, gardeners residing in Coconino County are the only folks ever known to be bitten. That bug gets to me every growing season. Here are a few signs that you, too, may have been bitten.
Some of us stand outside, arms stretched heavenwards, laughing gloriously, during the first monsoon downpour of the season.
My husband knows I’ve been bitten when he finds three left-handed gloves in their proper drawer but no sign (often ever again) of their matching right-handed gloves. Funny thing is, I also have a tendency to lose garden trowels as the growing season progresses.
Some victims of “The Bug” swear they can smell rain a half-mile away!
Coconino gardeners who’ve been tagged often brew their own rich garden compost and may even take to begging neighbors for kitchen vegetable scraps. One such neighbor stopped at my home several years ago inquiring if she could glean undersized apples that had fallen from my trees for incorporating into her compost pile!
Those of us who have been bitten may even try to hide the fact from our families. We’ll find any excuse to venture into, or clear across, town and surreptitiously “just happen to stop by the nursery.”
When driving through an unfamiliar neighborhood, most victims can’t keep ourselves from rubbernecking when spying beans, corn, tomatoes, or other edibles growing in folks’ front yards. During these times we bemuse ourselves with thoughts of, “Gee, if they can grow corn in their front yard, maybe I can too,” or “What kind of irrigation system setup do they have?”
Some of us will have symptoms for the rest of our lives. If you answer yes to any of the following questions, you could just be a “lifer”:
Can you identify a tomato horn worm?
Rather than cringing at the sight of an earthworm in your garden, do you regard it as a truly wondrous creature?
Do you become spellbound when observing a bee forage for nectar and pollen?
Do you incorporate pollinator-friendly and native plants in your landscape?
Do you have at least one book on how to landscape or grow edibles in high and dry altitudes?
Do you make a point of attending the Coconino Master Gardener’s garden tour each August?
Do you savor the “aroma” of compost?
Do you judge store-bought tomatoes to be, at best, so-so?
Are you keenly aware that honeybees are not Coconino County’s sole pollinator? And that some native bees, like the tiny green ones that previously you did not know existed, may pollinate more efficiently?
Are you not only willing, but eager to change-up your eating regime with vegetables you’d never tasted, perhaps kohlrabi, mizuna, or arugula?
Do you deliberately and routinely plant more edibles than your family can consume in hopes of sharing the bounty with your neighbors?
Okay, I must confess. I have written this article tongue-in-cheek. There is no Coconino Garden bug, neither a biting insect nor a contractable disease. I thought it would be humorous to share a few of the silly things some of us here do for the love of gardening. Trying to grow edibles at high altitudes can be quite challenging, and sometimes, we need to take a step back and simply laugh!
Cindy Murray, University of Arizona Master Gardener, has been a writing and editing contributor for “Gardening Etc.” for over a decade. She delves into subjects ranging from growing vegetables to native landscaping, together with the life cycles of birds and insects encountered therein.
Gardening Etcetera is written for the community by certified Master Gardeners of the University of Arizona's Coconino County Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Program. Have a gardening question? Visit our Online Plant Help Desk at https://extension.arizona.edu/programs/coconino-county-master-gardener.
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