Garden Roundup

-- I've had 3 kohlrabi growing all season in the narrow bed. During the unseasonably wet weather, one of them split and is probably not much good anymore. We picked the largest one the other day, and Kim cubed it and added it to her Amish soup. Kohlrabi grow above ground, like a cabbage, but the flesh is solid and mild, like a turnip. The flavor was barely discernible from the rest of the soup, but the texture was nice, and it was a healthy addition.

-- Not only are the slugs back, but Kim's noticed that the cabbage worms are back in force as well. With the cool fall temperatures back already, I'm not holding out much hope for the broccoli. I have to mix up some more of my pest control brew, which is simply water, flour, dish detergent, and salt. The water drowns, the salt dries, and the detergent and flour coat the plants to act as a deterrent.

-- I set out a beer trap for the slugs. It did work in the sense that it caught and killed four or five slugs, but it's not very practical as compared to hand-picking. I'd have to set out a lot of traps to really control the population as a whole, and they would have to be replenished with fresh beer all the time. Squishing them is gross, but more efficient.

-- The sunflowers opened this week, and are dropping pollen like crazy. I only have five flowers, but I'm hoping to get some of the seeds from them before the birds do their worst.

-- I pulled up a test carrot the other day. It was really small, like a baby carrot you would buy at the supermarket, but the flavor was very strong.