Biological Warfare Strikes in the Ozarks (Well, Sort Of)

By Robert Seay, U of A Division of Agriculture

08-12-2008

BENTONVILLE, Ark. - Bits and pieces of this occurrence filtered to me during the last week. My first reaction was one of surprise because, like most of you, I only see or read of these situations as they occur in other countries. The operative in this case was a 7-year old girl who lives in a neighboring county.

Biological materials exist all around and periodically cause problems in a natural sense. From one year to the next, we have learned to live with infrequent damage because, in a normal process, nature tends to handle the consequences and put things back in order. Seldom do we think about the planned use of biologicals as destructive materials. After all, the operative was a 7-year old girl.
One interesting fact is the operative did not obtain information from the Internet or from books and neither did she receive direction from some higher authority. This act was not initiated because of politics, religion or for economical reasons. After all, the operative was a 7-year old girl.

To her credit, the operative is well tuned to nature. Since old enough to be carried outside, she has been an astute student of nature. Her maternal granddad took special time and care to teach her about the natural and bountiful blessings that exist throughout the Ozarks. A very adept student, she was apparently more observant than imagined for a 7-year old girl.

The attack occurred while the family gathered at her Cousin Rob’s. Slipping away from the group, she quietly approached Rob’s garden. A small box held the biological agents, in this case, three tomato hornworms which she delicately removed and placed on Rob’s bragging-size tomato plants. She smiled as she pictured the damage soon to be inflicted.

As she returned to the group, Rob greeted her with, “Hey little darling did you have to go back and admire my garden because your old Grandpa can’t grow anything good this year?” She smiled politely as she thought, “That’s the second time you’ve said something ugly about Grandpa’s garden.”

Throughout our history, ‘Blood is thicker than water’ is a code that migrated down the Alleghenies across the Appalachians and into the Ozarks. Yes, Cousin Rob is her blood kin, but the second verse of that code is “Some blood is thicker than other.”

Rob was re-taught a code lesson from a 7-year old girl, but at least he will live to laugh about it. Til’ next week!

For information about gardening or parenting, contact your county extension agent or visit http://www.uaex.edu. The Cooperative Extension Service is part of the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture.