A Day Too Late

   Last week, I made a mental note to pick and dehydrate the parsley as it was flourishing.  I put the plant in a hanging basket which seems to be the brightest idea I have had in a while.   The plant was dark green and very lush!  How nice it would be to have a Mason jar full of dehydrated, homegrown parsley!  From the looks of it, I should have gotten nigh on a pint jar full of the dried herb!  From the looks of it last week.  Canning figs got in the way of dealing with the parsley and, now, I am too late!

  Early this morning, I was out picking figs.  This chore has to be done at daybreak before the birds start to feed.  They will clean a fig tree in a matter of minutes!  While I was picking the figs from the small trees on the west side of the house, I checked the herb tower.  This is a large arbor with lots of shelves for pots and lots of space for hanging baskets.  This is where that parsley WAS!  Yep, WAS!  It was gone.  The hanging basket was there but instead of being filled with lovely, curly parsley, it was now filled with caterpillars!  Forty-seven caterpillars to be exact!  

  The black swallowtail butterflies that visit the zinnia bed decided that my parsley was the perfect nursery for their little ones.  In only one day, the critters munched the plant down to little nubs!  Now they are in a fine fix!  There is nothing else to eat!  Even though the critters ate my best plant, I felt sorry for them and tried offering them other herbs.  They are having no part of that and keep wandering around on the stripped parsley.  Thankfully, most are large enough to pupate so perhaps some will survive.  The tiny ones, however, had better get to changing their eating habits and stop being so persnickety!  Yes, it is sad that I did not get to dry my lovely parsley but I am not too upset as I do love my pretty butterflies.