What Penguin Poo and Ladybugs Have to Do With Cauliflower
At Lakeside Organic Gardens in Watsonville, Calif., adorable ladybugs are literally everywhere, but they’re not just there to look cute. As this installment of How Does It Grow teaches us, Lakeside—one of the country’s largest family-owned cauliflower farms—relies on these not-so-creepy crawlers to keep crops healthy.
Turns out that ladybugs have an appetite for the pests that like to eat cauliflower, meaning farmers here have no need for chemical sprays that can harm the environment. Another piece of trivia we learned: Cauliflower actually is a flower—the white head is actually composed of thousands of tiny flower buds, which form clumps called “curds.”
And Lakeside’s ultimate secret weapon? Penguin poop. Really.
"Lakeside is the country’s largest importer of Peruvian guano, a.k.a. seabird excrement," explains the show’s host, Nicole Cotroneo Jolly, who sounds as though she might burst into a fit of giggles at any moment. "Guano is used as a fertilizer and is super-rich in nitrogen because of all the fish those seabirds eat, and nitrogen is key to plant growth."
We dare you to break that factoid out at your next dinner party and see what happens. Penguins and cauliflower: Who knew?
More background on your favorite veggies:
Garlic, the original “superfood”
How Brussels sprouts got their name
Does cauliflower’s backstory surprise you? Tell us below!
