Garden update

Well, some things in our vegetable garden seem to be doing very well, while other things gave up quite a while ago. On Friday we were able to harvest our first fruits of the garden. I'd never grown broccoli before so I wasn't real sure what I was getting into. It was looking like it was ready to harvest, so I did a little research online first just to be sure. After cutting the heads off (that sounds bad, doesn't it?), I brought them inside and gave them a warm bath in water with vinegar because I'd read online that would help rid the broccoli of any stowaways. Post bath, there were a few at the bottom of the sink so I assumed we were good to go, chopped up the broccoli and proceeded to steam away. As I was plating up the broccoli, I noticed a slightly pale looking caterpillar on one of my pieces and nearly lost my appetite altogether. We spent the next 5 minutes meticulously inspecting every piece of broccoli for more caterpillars and found 2 more and some kind of egg sack (eek!). We traded plates and double inspected each other's broccoli. Finally, we worked up the courage to still eat it, even though it was mostly cold by that point. The verdict: in spite of the uneasy feeling we had eating food that we'd just picked caterpillars out of, it was better than any broccoli we'd ever eaten from the grocery store. I just learned a lesson that day. Next time I will inspect my broccoli MUCH more thoroughly before ever considering cooking it. It makes me think a little about how carelessly I "wash" the broccoli I bring home from the store..... hmmmm.