High Tunnel Inhabitants

I used to like rainy days at the farm.

On rainy days, I could do cushy "indoor" tasks in the greenhouse or high tunnel...weeding, harvesting, pruning, and trellising are delicate and precise procedures in a perfectly manicured environment. Less disease. Ideal growing conditions. A slice of gardening perfection. I would work indoors and dream of my own high tunnel in my own backyard.

Today, though, in the middle of August, I came face-to-face with one of those gut-wrenching childhood fears that never really goes away...

He's 3 inches across. I kid you not. I found his big sister a few minutes later and she could wrestle a mouse.

Several of them, actually. These enormous zipper spiders have taken up residence in the high tunnel. They are so large that I can almost hear their exoskeletons clicking as they move...or am I imagining that? *shudder* The high tunnel is lovingly referred to as the "tomato jungle". Tomato plants in there easily reach 10-12 feet high and fold over to keep growing more. It's insane. And beautiful. And it smells delicious.

BUT...

This morning, I came across a giant zipper spider in the middle of my path, inches from my face, and I literally shivered. I felt like wetting myself and throwing up all at once. Not cool, dude. I turned back and paced a bit...do I tough it out and keep harvesting? I could see several more down the row. Do I just knock down the webs as I find them and move on? Do I beg my boss for a different task? I didn't want to appear weak, but I was having a REALLY hard time getting back to work. Waves of terrified nausea.

Thankfully, I work with some pretty awesome people that I've come to trust and love. And really thankfully, one of them is Matt Wallig. He's a retired ag professor that, coincidentally enough, served on my thesis committee. Totally fun, totally easy-going, talkative, and someone I can trust with a fear of giant spiders.

"Matt, I've gotta tell you, I can't harvest on this side anymore. Too many giant spiders."

"What? Spiders? Oh, they don't bother me much. Let's trade sides. Where are they?"

I pointed it out, but he didn't see it at first. You know the feeling? He looked and looked and moved closer and then suddenly he saw it much closer than he anticipated.

"Whoa! Okay."

He showed me how to break the non-sticky strands of the web, causing the whole shebang to flutter to the ground. He let me know that these particular spiders only bite when you try to touch them. Huge, but not aggressive. Painful, but not lethal. He confessed that his personal insect weakness was wasps, then shared a couple horrifying stories that clearly demonstrated his point.

There were a couple more people harvesting tomatoes on the other side of Matt's aisle. Apparently, his aisle was the WORST as far as zipper spiders: one every couple of feet, then a whole nest of them midway. One girl literally screamed when she saw Matt carefully taking down one of the webs with its enormous inhabitant square in the middle. I'm not the only one with big spider issues ;)

Matt toughed it out for a while, but every web he took down would only be rebuilt overnight. This was one of those times the spiders get the win. He came back over to my side and we picked through the row as best we could.

Aw, man.

I'm pretty tough when it comes to creepy crawlies, but that was something else.