The Very Naughty Caterpillar

"HungryCaterpillar". Via Wikipedia.

I love the story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar. The tale has delighted toddlers, parents and teachers alike for more than 45 years, with its colourful hole-punched pictures of foods eaten by the caterpillar as it bulks up for its transformation into a beautiful butterfly. My nephews have a giant hungry caterpillar soft toy that they cuddle while we read the book together. There is also a delightful Christmas version that I bought last year, with northern hemisphere Christmas variations on the foods the caterpillar ate each day.

Here is a video of the book read by its author, Eric Carle.



I'm not too enamored with hungry caterpillars in real life, though.

Two months ago, I planted a living herb wall. It started out really well and I enjoyed picking handfuls of fresh herbs to chop and add to my cooking. The violets bloomed into a rainbow of beautiful colours and the leaves were healthy, green and lush. Until one day, when holes started appearing in the leaves before being eaten away altogether. In desperation, I consulted various gardening sites who all seemed to agree that the best non-toxic solution was to find the elusive bug in the plants and remove it. I searched and searched but couldn't find anything, even among eighteen little pockets. Eventually, I pulled a snail out out from behind a chives plant! Goodbye, villain. *cue evil laugh*

The plants started growing back and I enjoyed watching them grow again. Then one day I noticed that my living herb wall was once again under attack! Each day I watched yet another healthy plant seemingly disappear before my eyes but with no culprit in sight. Until today. Victory is mine!

Here is my abridged version of the Very Hungry Caterpillar, told as a photo story without a happy ending.

The Very Naughty Caterpillar

On Monday he ate through one basil plant.

On Tuesday he ate through two oregano plants.

On Wednesday he ate through three violet plants.

On Thursday he ate through four thyme stalks.

On Friday he ate through five coriander plants.

On Saturday he tried to eat through six parsley stalks.

On Sunday he was found climbing from one pocket to another, got squashed between a paper towel and ended up unceremoniously dumped in a rubbish bin.

There will be no life as a beautiful butterfly for this very naughty caterpillar.

Living herb wall

I'm no gardener by any stretch of the imagination. Still, the cook in me likes the idea of cooking and eating fresh. Also, have you seen how much it costs to buy herbs these days?? Two years on from tending a basic herb garden, a pot of thyme remains intact. Although the other herbs have sadly passed on, I did use the parsley, chives and rosemary several times in my cooking before they died off. Perhaps they were only supposed to last a while? Hopefully.

One of my summer projects was to set up living wall of herbs on a patch of trellis in the back yard. The area is sheltered but also gets good sun. After scouring garden shops and daily deals for a few months, we came across this design which has individual pockets made of felt. This means that I can plant and water each herb separately and any excess water just drains through the felt.

I looked through my spice rack to see which herbs I use the most in my cooking and bought a few varieties of each in small pots to transplant into my wall. From top to bottom, I have planted:

• Italian and flat parsley
• lemon and pizza thyme
• Greek oregano
• garlic and regular chives
• sweet basil (I know this one will probably need to come inside during winter)
• rosemary to drape over the bottom edges.

There is also a tub of coriander hanging beneath the wall.

Living herb wall

I have planted little violets and violas in between the herb pockets in a checkerboard shape. Hopefully their pretty colours will attract bees and also allow room for the taller herbs to grow upwards without getting in the way of others.

Herb garden

I'm not much of a gardener. (Read: things I plant usually often die.) Except for weeds. I'm great at growing weeds. Basically, if it makes a noise (partner, cat, guests), it's pretty safe; I'm reminded to feed it. If it's silent (any type of plant), its chances of survival are marginal.

For Christmas, I was the recipient of several potted herbs. Although they were gifted with the best of intentions, I was immediately nervous for their future. Rosemary, thyme, chives, Italian parsley and golden marjoram ... all optimistically promised exotic meals in the future. Two are in terracotta pots, which I've been told to keep wet, and the others are in a planter hanging off our trellis. I had given similar gifts in the past to others who professed their desire to grow a herb garden only to have them find that it wasn't as easy as it sounded. Hmm.

I am pleased to report that it is now more than five weeks later and they are all still alive. Not only that, but my herbs are prospering and I have used almost all of them in my cooking. Except for the golden marjoram; I don't know where to begin with that one. Google hasn't been particularly helpful other than to say that it is not the same as oregano. Still, I'm watering it and keeping it alive in the hope that a) one day I'll work out how to use it and b) it will taste delicious.

@Anjuli_nz came up with some really good links with advice about cooking with herbs, including this herb directory and the WikiHow page for matching herbs with vegetables. Otherwise, the universal answer for almost any herb you can think of seems to be "with potatoes" or "add it to salads". The rosemary and thyme each worked really well with potatoes, lightly drizzled with canola oil and roasted. Homemade focaccia topped with fresh rosemary, thyme and parsley tastes amazing. However, I am most proud for thinking up chopping chives and bacon and mixing it with sour cream to fill baked potatoes cooked on the barbeque all by myself!

I still have no idea what to do with golden marjoram.

Are you blessed with a golden touch (or green thumb) for growing fresh herbs? What are your favourite fresh herb and food combinations?