A Spring Day at The Farm with the Erdkinder Community
St. Patrick's Day found us at the farm. It was a very bright, sunny, but COLD day, with a fresh prevailing wind blowing on to the land off of the ocean.
The farmers have been wanting to collect and study the insects living in the strawberry beds to better understand insect inhabitants and possible infestations that could damage the strawberry crop. Strawberries are vital to the economic health of Green Oaks Creek Farm as they are the most profitable annual crop for the farmers.
We worked with partners to comb the strawberry beds and collect insect samples.
We then examined the insects using The National Wildlife Federation's
Field Guide to Insects and Spiders of North America. Here, we are working with the new farm manager, reviewing all of the bugs we collected in vials and petri dishes.
We were able to identify many of the insects collected: Bordered Plant Bug, Darkling Beetle, Nine-Spotted Lady Beetle, Lubber Grasshopper, Luminescent Click Beetle, Common Pillbug and Pantropical Jumping Spider.
On the way back to school, we stopped for 15 minutes in Half Moon Bay at the Carnivorous Plants greenhouse in Pastorino Farms.
We were amazed by the variety of insect-consuming pants to be found and the way nature has evolved to provide so many species of plants. The photo above is just a tiny selection that shows a Pitcher Plant (speckled green and white) and a variety of Sun Dew. The green house is definitely worth visiting if you are heading to Half Moon Bay!
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