2008-12-09

Bora Bora


Gilbert was right! Those hungry iguanas LOVE bora. Bora is a vine plant that produces a tasty bean that resembles a long string bean. Lately the bora we planted has been the most thriving crop in the garden. That only means about one full handful gets picked per day, but we are excited about that! It is really nice putting the tasty bean in our salads, soups, rice dishes, whatever! But growing things seems to be a constant battle against the jungle critters. Those iguanas are the biggest threat to the bora as they will chomp down heartily on the entire plant and eat it down to a sad little nubbin.

Michael has seen up to three iguanas in his garden at one time. The best thing to do to keep them away is to catch them and relocate them far, FAR away from our campus. Four young iguanas have already been caught. Michael said all he wants for Christmas is for the granddaddy of them all to be caught. I have not seen this large iguana, but from the descriptions he is roughly 2 feet in length, not including the tail. This guy loves his bora too! Michael has seen him the most frequently as he runs full speed into the safety of the jungle at a person's approach. The students say the only way to catch him is to stay out all night and wait for him. Any volunteers? You might catch the jaguar at the same time! :D

Michael has planted his next round of bora in an attempt to keep a steady flow of produce growing. I guess some other invaders have started in on these. Michael is suspecting crickets this time, and he has seen the acoushi ant going at it as well. Each creature eats the plants a different way, all are destructive!
By the way, the fogger seems to be a success with the acoushi ants. However, when one colony is obliterated, another always seems to find out and move in from somewhere else. There have been a steady supply of these ants that have taken a keen fancy to our campus. At least we know they aren't coming from the same place twice though.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Will you bring me back an iguana. I don't care if it does eat my garden - he won't get much! Mom and I had fun chasing Iguanas in Mexico . . . but I couldn't catch them - they were way too quick.