Beware of The Cabbage Worm Army

Why am I not growing cabbage, broccoli, or Brussels sprouts?

Cabbage Worms.

Oh how I hate them.

If you’ve never grown cabbage, broccoli or Brussels sprouts in your garden, I would encourage you to do so. They are all cool season crops that can be grown right now.  They are low maintenance to grow (as long as the cabbage worms haven’t found your garden yet).  They will make you delicious food that you will enjoy for months.

I have been growing all 3 for many years.

I especially love to grow broccoli.  Once you cut off the giant head in the center of the plant, smaller heads begin to form on the outside.  It is a plant that truly keeps on giving way into the warm summer months.  I love broccoli.

Why, if I love them so & they are easy to grow am I not planting them this year?

Stupid cabbage worms.

The cabbage worms have found me and have gone and told all the other cabbage worms in the universe to visit my garden to lay their eggs.

It all starts one day when you notice cute, tiny, pale-yellow butterflies all over your garden.  It looks like it is snowing beautiful, yellow wings.  Yellow wings everywhere.  It’s quite a sight.  If you are like me you will think they are wonderful, little, fluttering helpers that have come to pollinate all your plants.

Big Fat NO.

They have not come to pollinate and help you with anything.  They want to poop out their evil, green eggs all over your broccoli and cabbage plants.  The tiny, pale-yellow butterflies are from Satan and want to make the next 4 months of your life filled with green slimy eggs and fat green worms.

A couple of weeks after the cute, yellow butterflies cover every crevice of your plants with their slimy, green egg poop it will turn into cabbage worms.

Then you will be up against a cabbage eating army of epic proportions.

If you have no row covers and don’t want to eat Seven Dust (like me), this is what your life will look like:

• Green worms will eat holes in your beautiful cabbage plants while they are growing
• Green worms will be living inside your cabbage when you are harvesting
• Green worms will fill your sink while you are washing
• Green worms will be crawling up the sides of the inside of your refrigerator while you are storing
• Green worms will be in your casseroles, salads, and broccoli florets when you eat them (or serve them to others).

Yum.

My husband calls it protein.  I call it fear-factor.

No, Thank you.

Now that the cabbage worms have found me, I have 2 choices.

1. Not grow cabbage or
2. die in cabbage worm hell.

I chose not to grow cabbage.

Next year I am planning to take some preventative measures against the cabbage worm army.  I am going to try to find some row covers on clearance later this year.  Until then, I’ll be buying my cabbage from the organic section of the store.

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