Hello, Friend!
When you see a crop getting totally decimated by a pest, immediate thoughts are usually something like:
What did I do wrong?
Why, God, why?!
The fight is on!
None of these feel good.
What if we looked at the situation from the perspective of the "pest"? In their minuscule minds, they're probably thinking:
Jackpot! This is amazing!
Thank you, God!
I want to share this abundance with all of my friends! And produce tons of offspring to enjoy it as well!
This perspective feels so much better.
Now, we're not here to grow food for non-humans only, but sharing our abundance feels great. Much better than a defensive and combative posture.
So we can lament our dragon tongue bean plants turning to this:
And curse the bean beetles responsible for it:
Or -- we can be thankful for the piles of beans these plants have already given us, (try to) be glad these guys have enjoyed the feast as well, and let the plants go.
This is not to say that we won't continue to do our best to manage these insects and other so-called "pests". But recognizing that we're all part of Nature, looking to eat some good food and live our best lives, makes the co-existence more harmonious.
