And… now for issue # 3 of my Fall Fridays series.
One of the things I remember about this season was the Farmer’s Market in New Jersey.
Every Friday the Farmer’s Market was held in Highland Park, just across the bridge from the college town of New Brunswick.
There’s always something at a Farmer’s Market from fresh produce to homemade soaps and other products.
It was around this time in 2004, I had been waiting for my cornworms to turn into moths. Ok, before anyone asks “What the heck is Cornworm?” allow me to explain… cornworms are actually caterpillars… They eat a variety of crops such as tomatoes, cotton, tobacco, corn and others.
They can be green or brown, I had one that was a reddish hue.
I found mine amongst the ears of corn my Mom bought.
Originally I had a total of four, sadly I lost two of them. The middle one was attacked by an older worm and lost a lot of blood and the youngest was… well young and was out in the open too soon.
The oldest worm, Kirby (Red) and the younger one, Coffee (brown) were the only ones that survived. I cared for them on a daily basis, fed them, interacted with them, etc…Despite being aggressive with their own kind, these worms are actually quite friendly toward humans. Like any animal that’s never been handled by human hands, they can be skittish so I strongly advise being careful when picking up a caterpillar Both grew into healthy mature cornworms and eventually made cocoons. For the next 3 weeks there was very little activity. I got up at 2 a.m. and sure enough they were out! fully grown moths.
I let them go the next day. Which was sad, but on a happier, I did get a short visit from Coffee two days later when she flew by the living room window. I’m not kidding!
Overall, it was a memorable experience that I enjoy sharing with others.
In the last decade, I’ve caught several caterpillars, many of them successfully grew into healthy adult moths and butterflies.
I plan to order some caterpillars this coming spring.
Will post how that goes.
See ya on Monday!
Pen & Paper 
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