Don't spray if you are pulling and discarding the plants. It's wasted effort.

Next time, stroll the garden every several days. Then, at the first sign, power hose the aphids off!

I feel the same way. I keep hoping the cold will kill them off before I harvest my last batch. It was pretty cold this morning so hopefully when I look that'll be the case.
Just FYI this year I tried spraying with some horrible stuff that I wasn't even supposed to get on my skin. It was some plant derivative so it was supposed to be good for the environment, but I felt like I needed a hazmat suit for it. It didn't help at all, so when I ran out I switched to plain ol' wafer, dish soap and vegetable oil. Guess what worked better? yep, the second thing. And no need to wear the hazmat suit.
Stacey

The reason I sprayed before pulling was that I didn't want to scatter the aphids all over everything, live when I pull them.
What else will they go after?
I still have a few tomatoes, chard, broccoli, some late green beans, snow peas, peppers, beets and lettuce.
Do I treat the soil? I've heard that they can infest the soil also. If so I don't want to plant there right away.
Sorry bout all the questions, but I've never had the pleasure of aphids before! NT

No, you don't need to treat the soil.

Aphids aren't a big garden threat ninjabut so you are over-reacting to them. ;) They are a common problem and most garden plants tolerate them just fine. As stacey said, they can just be blasted off with a water hose or sprayed with a soapy water mix (1 T liquid dish soap in 1 gallon of water). There is no need for toxic sprays, soil treatment, or pulling plants.

They are attracted to nitrogen in plants so avoid using high nitrogen fertilizers when possible. Do some online research on them or just type aphids in the search here for lots of discussions about controlling them.

Dave

Well, Dave, I'm pulling the plants because there were SOOOOO many! Yuk!!!!! They were nestled down in the leaves etc! BLECHT!
I don't often wear my glasses out in the garden, and the BS were just a hose spray away, so I didn't notice how badly they were infested!
The people where I asked about them were teasing me that I could get a bunch of extra protein by eating the buggies! LOL YUK!

Try ladybugs. My cherry tree had leaves just caked with black aphids. I sent for some ladybugs and released them into the tree. Took a couple weeks, but they got rid of every single last aphid.

Unfortunately, I think my two cauliflower plants are caked either with aphids or something else. Little white/grayish bugs that leave a residue that looks something like dandruff when it flakes off. I have a Brussels sprout plant right next to the cauliflower, and a broccoli right next to that, but so far they don't seem affected. I sprayed once with Pyola. That may have slowed them down, but it sure didn't stop them. I think it's too late in the season to try ladybugs again.