Monday, August 6, 2012

Pre-loved food


Now, I would never be able to sell this cabbage at the market, but for the home gardener does a bit of pre-nibble really matter?



After a quick haircut would you even know that it had previously been someone else's dinner? My family didn’t when I served it up as coleslaw. I was however reluctant to slice up the cabbage as a whole in case I also sliced up a slug. Instead I peeled off each leaf, washed, then sliced. Does anyone have any tips on how to remove bugs from dense leafy vegetables after harvesting?

Overall the garden at the moment is fairly untouched by pests, except for the cabbages. The bugs really do seem to like cabbage. But hey, if they leave the other vegetable alone they can have em, cabbage is probably one of my least favourite vegetables. So I guess the bugs and I have a pretty fair deal going on. It does make me ponder... if I didn’t have the cabbages would the bugs be eating my lettuce instead? Maybe it is a good idea to always grow a sacrificial lamb.

Does pre-nibble bother you?

4 comments:

  1. The slugs add protein! If I didn't eat stuff that had already been sampled by the six legged freeloaders who live in my veggie patch, I wouldn't eat any of my veggies.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wonder how many gardeners struggle with the unrealistic expectation of perfect looking food that is presented in the shops? Pleased to hear it doesn't bother you Anonymous.

      Delete
  2. I also don't mind a bit of sampled goods, the bugs tend to nibble the best ones! I admire your blogging your imperfect veg!! I tend to only post photos of the more picturesque of my veg, but I think I should follow your lead. In terms of de-bugging I have had success with putting veg (particularly broccoli with its many places to hide) in a bowl and filling with water, then placing a plate or something on it so all the veg is below the water surface, and the bugs (sadly) drown. Then rinsing them out is easy. But I'm not sure if that would work with a whole cabbage or lettuce - perhaps if it was kept upright and the water kind of poured into the heart of the veg, rather than sideways where there might be air pockets, it might work...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi, Any leafy veg I bring home is dunked in cold water and salt in case of any 'hitchhikers'!Then I separate the leaves and rinse under running water.The salt will kill any slugs and they sink to the bottom of the container.

    ReplyDelete

If you don't know which option to select... Name/URL is a recommended option. And you only need to provide a name.