We've been working on potty training with Lily this summer so, as you can guess, most of our conversations revolve around potties and poop. Then there's the little man, Jasper, who is pretty much a pooping machine. So the last place I thought I'd have to worry about poop is the garden!! Boy was I wrong. 
A couple of weeks ago I noticed that something or many things were munching on my broccoli and kale plants. As I investigated closer, I noticed these tiny green caterpillars or worms. It took me a few days to realize, that yes indeed these little buggers could devour a plant practically overnight. Yikes! As I discovered, they are called cabbage worms or cabbage lopers and they are the children of some pretty unassuming white moths that I once thought of as cute. Cute is the last word that enters my vocabulary when I see them these days.
I've been trying to avoid spraying anything on these pests to kill them. So, I've been in the garden every day trying to hand pick the cabbage lopers off the plants hoping they will survive. I thought I had it under control when last night I realized they also like my beautiful lettuce plants. The ones on the lettuce were fat and extremely well-fed. AND, what's worse, as fast as they eat, they POOP, leaving thier poop behind on what's left of the plant they just decimated. Gross! Gross! And Gross! (You can see the black poop to the right of the lettuce in the above picture.) I'm on the verge of spraying something organic...The good news is, that Lily is potty trained except for overnights, YEAH!!! 
Last year, (maybe because we had such gorgeous weather,) Lily was in tears most days when it was time to come in from the garden. This year she didn't even want to go outside half the time. And when she did, gardening "tasks" weren't always on her to-do list. This alone would be no big deal, but also unlike last year, she's way more demanding of my every-minute attention.
Independent play in the garden definitely wasn't her thing this year. If she was digging for wormies, then I had to be sitting in the dirt right next to her digging for wormies too. If she was playing trucks and cars in the dirt, then I had to be bent over playing trucks and cars in the dirt too. And not just playing trucks and cars, but inventing and creating the activities for the trucks and cars. And while playing the same cars and trucks or baby doll games over and over and over again can kill more brain cells than drugs, we've had some silly moments and lots of fun, like chasing Dizzy, watching our sunflowers grow and discovering dragonflies. And hopefully it's not over just yet!