Monday, September 6, 2021

Anybody Got A Good Recipe For Fried Grasshoppers?

 I mentioned a while ago that my garden has been supporting a nice crop of whompin', really big grasshoppers.  Well, they're still here although I must admit, not quite in the large numbers as before.

The only real damage I've discovered them doing (to what is left in the garden) is on the leaves of my pepper plants.


Yep, the pesky hoppers definitely like the taste of the leaves.


 (Sorry for the blurry picture.  I got up too close and personal.)
 
After a little research on ye ol' Internet, I'm pleased to find my suspicions are confirmed that they don't bother the peppers themselves.  Whew, that's a relief.  Otherwise, I'd have to get my shotgun out to eradicate the buggers.

12 comments:

Michelle said...

I hear EVERYthing is better with butter and garlic! 🤣

Mama Pea said...

Michelle - Yer darn tootin', my friend!

Susan said...

You know, I could actually picture you out in the garden, blasting away with your shot gun. Should you have one. I would imagine they'd be pretty good with a light batter and some savory sauce.

Sparkless said...

Don't chickens eat grasshoppers? But then I guess you can't let the chickens into the garden cause they'd eat all the plants too. No one wants to gather a bucket of grasshoppers for their chickens cause how do you even keep them in the pail? LOL!

Mama Pea said...

Susan - How many years ago was it that Fried Grasshoppers were a craze that people were serving at parties? (I really do remember that.) Believe me, these critters are big enough that they'd be worth dipping in a batter and frying!

Sparkless - You just painted a hilarious picture in my mind. One of the chickens manages to run one of the grasshoppers down and holds him on the ground while calling for help. "Can a couple of you guys get over here and help me with this delicious morsel? I'll share." I have a sneaky feeling there are enough of them in the poultry yard that our birds are probably stuffed with them by now!

Goatldi said...

You just rock it! Yeah chocolate covered grasshoppers to not just with savory sauce. Shotgun might be overkill I do have a nice 9 mm pistol you might want to borrow and you could probably knock a few of them out with that. You are my heroine MP!

tpals said...

I have absolutely hunted grasshoppers for the chickens as an adult. I used a plastic container with a screw on lid. The hens were amazing at leaping up to pluck them out of the air. Hint: it's easier to catch them in the early morning when the cool temps keep them slow.

Surprisingly, I don't have a lot of them around this year.

Rosalea said...

That is a vision...Mama Pea blasting away at her garden! That is a beautiful specimen...the pepper, not the hoppers!

Mama Pea said...

Goatldi - We got 1/2" of rain last night which I'm hoping will slow the grasshoppers down a bit . . . if I'm correct in that they've been so hungry because of our drought. If not, I'm just going to turn a blind eye toward the lacy leaves, save the shotgun shells and call it a season. ;o)

tpals - Aren't chickens so much fun to watch? We've seen them leap up and down as they chase a grasshopper across the field. Also, the other morning one of the littlest chickens stumbled upon a huge earthworm and it was a real show seeing him/her run with a worm almost as big as he/she was while about six other chicks ran after wanting a taste of that goodie.

Rosalea - The peppers have been really nice and I've got our quota of Stuffed Green Peppers in the freezer already. The ones I get now will be to share or chop up and freeze to use in dishes all winter. I never have to buy green peppers from season to season. Lucky ducky, eh?

Retired Knitter said...

OK LADY!!! Now gardening is getting really interesting!! :-)

Mama Pea said...

Retired Knitter - Yep. New recipes, violent ways of getting rid of garden pests . . . what will be next? ;o)

Ulvmor said...

I like crickets fried and seadoned woth chili. They're good in granola, too, sweetened with honey. But I like them in liquorice, most people don't even like liquorice 😁