Yuk

[Farmer_Gyles]

cooked some home grown cauliflower yesterday - then found a huge green caterpillar in it - and then found a smaller one as well - put me right off

worst thing is is picked the cauli weeks ago, checked it, blanched it, froze it, then got it out of the freezer and boiled it yesterday - but i didn't spot the caterpillars until i was dishing up

i don't want this to put me off home growing - just gonna have to be a lot more careful in future ...........

[mandyballantyne]

Nearly had a similar experience with a cabbage

[shirlthegirl43]

Yup, picked brocolli the other day, soaked in salt water, rinsed and carefully inspected, steamed it - younger son picks up a piece and finds a big juicy caterpillar staring at him!!! Needless to say, no brocolli eaten.

Is there a foolproof way to get them out?

[SueA]

At least you didn't find HALF a caterpillar staring back at you!

[Farmer_Gyles]

turns my stomach thinking i nearly did have half a caterpillar .....
mother says the soaking in salty water works - but if it didn't work for shirl, i can't see it working for me!
will netting the caulis etc next year stop the butterflys and therefore stop the caterpillars?
or can caterpillars get on there anyway?

[shirlthegirl43]

will netting the caulis etc next year stop the butterflys and therefore stop the caterpillars?
or can caterpillars get on there anyway?

Mine were netted, though some of the brocolli grew against the netting and I think that's where they got in, I understand (now) that the butterfly will land on the net and lay eggs through it onto the plant on the other side, I suppose once one lot of eggs are laid, the caterpillars can crawl where they wish. Next year there will be a bigger gap between the net and the plants!!!

[smallblueplanet]

More yuk - I went to change the battery on our outdoor thermometer to find an earwig half-hidden in it (eek)! I tried to knock it out and ended up chopping it in half, eehheww. Shook it abit and took it inside to change the batteries. Comes back to it an hour or so later to find the top half of the earwig lying next to it - blergh. Gets the dustpan and brush to get rid of it......and when I sweep it up, its still alive, moving its head - argh! BIG YUK. I hate earwigs, that was sooo yukky.

[moggssue]

O dont - now I'm thinking of what might be lurking in my freezer along with my caulis ....

[Alison]

Am I the only one that isn't bothered by this? I mean, obviously I don't want to eat caterpillars but the fact that they can survive on our cabbages etc means to me that we've grown without the need for nasty chemicals which would harm us also. So long as I've washed the veg well then I'm fine with it.

[lainey lou]

could always call it extra protein - for free

[Alison]

could always call it extra protein - for free

LOL, like your humour

[shirlthegirl43]

It just amazes me how they hide so well when you are doing the washing bit. The one my son found was well exposed on a leaf - I washed all the leaves carefully and gave them a good rub with my fingers too so I don't know where it had hidden - it was a good inch and a half long and none of the brocolli florets appeared to have been big enough to conceal it

[scared55]

Funny how we like the butterflies so much, but not the caterpillars that are destined to become butterflies.
Having said that, it's probably no different to my liking adults but not the children that are destined to become adults.

KK

[shirlthegirl43]

I don't fancy eating the butterflies either

Actually, apart from the fact that they are scoffing my precious veggies, I prefer the caterpillars to the butterflies (which scare me in confined spaces). I don't even mind them having a share of the crop - maybe next year I will try growing some brassicas in the open for the caterpillars and see if that makes the ones under netting less invaded.

PS - I know what you mean about children too - I tolerate mine but do have a problem with them bringing friends round to visit! Hmm, maybe I am just plain anti-social - not over-fond of adults sometimes

[Flummery]

Funny how we like the butterflies so much, but not the caterpillars that are destined to become butterflies.
Having said that, it's probably no different to my liking adults but not the children that are destined to become adults.

KK

Sometimes I have liked children but not the adults they have become