Attack of the Aphids

I was a bit concerned when I saw a large swatch of black aphids on the fava. The bean pods had popped out overnight and looked ready to eat. Nummy. Meanwhile, aphids had arrived to suck the life out of the fava. Oh no! And they were not the lime green aphids that lazily sip the sap out of plants. They were a menacing horde of black aphids, posed to raid and feast on the fava.

“Chris, there are black aphids on the fava,” I said, half statement, half question. I was not sure if he had noticed this yet.  Also, I had never seen black aphids before, so I was hoping I was not making an insect faux pas. And finally, what was to be done about all these aphids?? Surely Chris would know.

Apparently, nothing was to be done.

“Yeah, I saw,” he replied as he sifted through mulch. “There were black aphids at 18th and Rhode Island last month. A conventional farmer would try to eliminate the aphids, remove them from the ecosystem. But in permaculture, we have a longer view of things. They let the aphids be at 18th and Rhode Island. Three or four weeks later, ladybugs arrived and laid eggs. Now, there’s an abundance of ladybugs. Does that answer your question?”

Yes, it did. Only one week later, a trickle of ladybugs landed on the fava and began to propagate. I happily reported to Chris that I had seen the ladybugs, just as he had predicted. “Isn’t nature amazing?” he said, “It will find its own balance.”

Photo by Angela Goebel, June 6, 2010