what is up with the pests this year

fortunately i check everything 2-3 times a day so they really dont get to good a hold but what is going on this year? I found 3 different kinds of caterpillar feasting 2day(only had 1 in past years). found slugs(never been a problem before). found 1 ant herding 3 aphids( never noticed them in past years). time to get nasty on the little futters. Im going to my pool store and getting a huge bag of DE and sprinkling it all around the bases. Then to the nursery and getting something to make the leaves taste nasty(and lethal) oh yes the war is on.

Could be weather related. We've had similar amounts of rain as you and that's good for the slugs. I would do a search on DE as I came across a very cheap bag of the pool stuff and remembered having to get rid of it as there is another grade that works well for insects. I tend to forget things as I get older. Good luck!

from yesterday to 2day i have 4 bines with what looks like gobs of spit on em. I know thats an eggsack i cant remember what type of insect but they had to go. amazing what they can do overnight. cant imagine how bad it is for people who dont have the luxury of 2-3x daily checkups.