Something we have to deal with from time to time in the world of organic vegetable is the question of bugs, these can range from a simple aphid through to a larger caterpillar.
The issue with organic farming is that obviously we can’t spray our vegetables to get rid of these ‘pests’ (of course a lot of them aren’t pests!) so we are reliant on other means of control. Our farmers play a huge part in this and good farming methods are at the forefront of this battle. After that, the final tool we have is observation. This itself has its own challenges especially when you chill the vegetables (necessary to help keep the produce at their best) and all the bugs hide to stay warm. We do carry out checks here at Langridge all the time however they do occasionally still slip through the net.
I remember visiting my Grandma and Aunties on the farm in Devon when I was a child (yes quite a few years ago) and seeing all the vegetables for dinner prepared and sitting in a large bowl of lightly salted water, ‘the most effective way of dealing with the unwanted bugs,’ I was told. A quick rinse off and then into the pot for cooking, as I also remember this involved mainly boiling for quite a while, no al dente vegetables back then