Pumpkin patches and gourds in the Cucurbiticae family seem the most rugged of all veggies, but they've got a tender spot, their base stalks which squashbugs love to snack on. This lovely creature, the Orb Spider seen in this photo, is the Guardian of the Garden, making sure Halloween is repleat with all the Cucurbiticae babies the vine can handle.
Garden Angel, a Garden Spider Photo
"...mixed with fierce beauty..."
This is a moment I got to witness a guardian of a garden. This one, a Garden Orb Spider, protects our harvests. She, with her vast net stretching across a valley of leaves of my pumpkin patch, lies in wait for any unwitting invader to touch this marvellous ripening pumpkin.
Garden Orb Spiders are often confused and sadly treated fearfully, but shouldn't be. Really no spider should, as none of them are intersted in humans. I've learned how easy it is to just get a glass jar and index card or cardstock paper, cup them, slide the paper under the glass, and escort them somewhere outside.
Fortunately, I had been taught before this moment, that there's a reciprocal kindness mixed with fierce beauty in the life of this spider, her willingness to build a nest right atop my favorite garden, protecting it from the nastiest of predators, while helping me enjoy a bountiful pumking harvest!
