My kale had a rough weekend. I wasn't here, but apparently it was very hot, and I came home to find it drooping almost all the way to the ground. A bit of water revitalized it, but later in the day, I noticed these almost completely camouflaged caterpillars. Lots of them! All over my kale leaves! I thought it would be ok for a couple hours, until I could enlist Geoff to come remove them, safely and organically, by hand. I was so wrong. I came home two hours later to a kale plant stripped of its lush leafiness.
I sacked up, put on some gloves, and plucked the little guys off. I even found a tiny eighth little caterpillar, which doesn't reassure me. I suspect there are many more lurking in the stems and leaves that I can't see.
I took them outside and dumped them in some more foliage, far away from houseplants. This is a sad day in kale ownership.
Oh, did I mention I moved?
Hah! I mean have you never read Hungry Hungry Caterpillar?
ReplyDeletechildren learned a valuable lesson from that book.
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