[FRIAM] Sunchoke rhizomes

[Steve Smith]

> Despite my credentials as a naturalist, I am not fond of big bugs.  I don't know if you have ever seen the hornworm "butterfly" but they are about as large and noisy as black helicopters and near as mean looking.  
I love those moths...  not the hornworms (esp. on my Tomatoes) so
much...   as I know them as "Sphynx" or "Hummingbird" moths... one of
the few moths that seem to venture out during the daytime.   Unlike
millers, they don't ever engage me as a human (intentionally or
clumsily) and unlike other large, hovering insects (wasps) they are
definitely not aggressive.   I don't know the difference between a moth
and a butterfly other than butterflies seem always to be colorful and
daytime vs nighttime grazers.   I suppose I could look that up... 
> If your horn worm is carrying little white packages on its back, leave it be,  Those are the eggs of parasites, which may explain why your datura plant came through. 

Actually I think they were done with their voracious work and moved on
to *other*? plants or on to their pupae stage???   My tomatoes always
have *some* hornworms, and I've quit treating them as a scourge, and
merely make a modest effort to keep them from stripping my tomatoes
bare... since I'm usually reluctant to "prune" my tomatoes (reputed to
help invigorate growth and flowering and therefore fruiting), I use the
hornworms as an excuse, cutting away the branch they are on and letting
them finish as much of it in the compost pile as they like.   They don't
seem to travel back to the other tomatoes, though I can't say *where*
they go.   I've pulled a LOT of hornworms off of my tomatoes and never
seen the parasites you refer to.   I'm a big fan of ecosystems.... even
if they are somewhat managed/artificial, so I hope to "train" my
chickens to pluck hornworms this year when they begin to appear.   Right
now they don't have access to the main garden as they are pretty
destructive, but if they take a liking to hornworms, I suspect I can
offer them access to my tomatoes in the early morning and they will
prefer the worms to the leaves (which they *do* seem to eat, but not 
eagerly).  I suppose I could use Google to discover what other plants
hornworms are likely to live on. 

- Steve