Hi all,

Reading that post about vegetable garden mulch reminded to post about my
predicament.

I started my first vegetable garden this spring. I left it a bit late so
only planted cherry toms and watermelons (and my son planted sunflowers).
Well, none of the tom seeds sprouted - I have since found out that
transplants are the best way to go. My watermelons and sunflowers were
coming on well and then one by one... everything got eaten! One day there
were healthy little plants, the next there were stumps!

Next to my veggie patch I also have a good sized, controlled, blackberry
garden. We had a bumper crop this spring and they were HUGE - but that's
not the point... A pecan tree sprouted in the middle of the patch and we
just let it grow. It was about six feet tall with a good bunch of leaves
and then one day, every_single leaf had been munched off. I was thinking
caterpillars, but I don't think for one minute even 20 of them could eat
that much.

Could it be the cicadas?!
TIA.