I have quite a bit of Hosta in my yard because there's a good deal of shade to contend with in the back. I've struggled with "shade loving plants" and hostas seem to come in a nice variety of colors and are relatively easy to grow. My only problem with hostas is that occasionally, certain ones, would get holes in them. I sprayed them with an insecticide, but that didn't seem to work as well as it did on other plants, so I deduced it was a different kind of insect. Larger, too.
Then I learned the culprits were slugs. I've never seen a single slug on them (apparently they are nocturnal), but researching the issue online revealed the problem. There were several solutions, such as putting out dishes of beer, only to find drunken dead slugs swimming around in the dishes and that wasn't something I was willing to do. I think slugs are really disgusting creatures, and I don't just mean the ones like my ex-husband. Further, I had groundhogs, squirrels, feral cats, raccoons and opposums that occupied my property, I didn't want any of them getting loaded and rowdy at all hours of the night on warm beer. And, I wasn't sure if wild animals drinking warm beer with a fat dead slug in the bottom of the dish was anything like humans drinking the tequila worm, but I wasn't willing to find out either. Plus, the beer drinkers in my family were not willing to share their beer with the wildlife.
There was a solution, however, that would not cost me a dime and was so simple, I jumped for joy. Well, that's an exaggeration, but I did clap. What is it, you ask? Coffee grinds. There was never a shortage of those in my house! So, for a week, I made a full pot of coffee and took the used grinds and scattered them around the base of the holey plants. In fact, my filters are cone-shaped, so I would tear them along the seam and lay them flat around the base of the plant, which was hidden by the leaves, and wholly biodegradeable. Apparently, slugs hate coffee, which is fine with me because I love coffee and have plenty of it! Not only that, but the grinds are good for the soil (I also throw grinds, and filters, into the compost bin) and provide additional nutrients to the plants.
Within a week, the slimey bastards seemed to disappear and my hostas began to grow and thrive. So, several times a week, I throw my grinds into a container that I keep outside and towards the end of the week, I take the grinds and sprinkle them around the base of the hostas to maintain control. It seems to be working and I seem to have gotten rid of another slug problem in my life.
Hosta la vista, baby!
Thursday, August 30, 2012
What the Kale??
Kale---that curly leafy vegetable I would see in the produce section that always seemed to allude me. It looked interesting, but I had no idea what to do with it.
And then I met the Zuppa Toscana at the Olive Garden, a yummy sausage and potato soup with kale that my husband and I love so much. We decided to try to make it at home and our first attempt wasn't bad. We had no recipe to follow, just went by our taste buds. It wasn't the same, but it was good and it was close, but something was missing. We weren't sure what to do with all the leftover kale we had, though, because a whole head was entirely too much for the soup. Alas, it eventually went bad in the fridge and I tossed it into the compost before I could figure out how to use it.
Sometime later, I found a recipe that we tried and it was pretty close to the soup served at the chain restaurant. Thus, when I would buy kale, my husband knew I was going to be making soup because quite honestly, I didn't know what else to do with it and any leftover kale always ended up in the compost bin.
That is, until my cousin told me about "kale chips." Crunchy little pieces of kale, baked in the oven, sprinkled with salt. Intriqued, I bought some kale and followed her simple instructions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees, wash and dry the kale. Spray cooking oil over a sheet of aluminum foil on a cookie sheet. Cut or rip up pieces of the kale and lay them on the foil, lightly mist with cooking spray and sprinkle with salt. I also sprinkled a little pepper over them as well. I baked them for 10 minutes, 12 max.
Fresh out of the oven, they were crispy and delicious. Some of the pieces with stems were a little more chewy, but tasty nonetheless (you can cut the leaves completely from the stem prior to baking if you prefer). And healthy, oh so healthy! And low calorie! One whole bunch of kale is about 58 calories! Half a kale is a sufficient snack tho, although a whole kale would be enough for two, but you'd have to do at least four trays for a whole head of kale. This is a wonderful alternative to edamame (soybeans), another favorite snack. Comparatively, a 1/2 cup of shelled soybeans are 120 calories. Kale chips are a fantastic alternative to potato chips and I'm pretty sure kids would like them too, if you don't tell them how healthy they are for you. I've heard some people sprinkle parmesan cheese over them as well, but if you're looking to keep it low cal, forego the cheese. You won't regret it!
Now my compost bin will never benefit from kale again and, it's going to be alot harder to save some for some soup. I may end up buying two heads. . . because after all, two heads are better than one!
And then I met the Zuppa Toscana at the Olive Garden, a yummy sausage and potato soup with kale that my husband and I love so much. We decided to try to make it at home and our first attempt wasn't bad. We had no recipe to follow, just went by our taste buds. It wasn't the same, but it was good and it was close, but something was missing. We weren't sure what to do with all the leftover kale we had, though, because a whole head was entirely too much for the soup. Alas, it eventually went bad in the fridge and I tossed it into the compost before I could figure out how to use it.
Sometime later, I found a recipe that we tried and it was pretty close to the soup served at the chain restaurant. Thus, when I would buy kale, my husband knew I was going to be making soup because quite honestly, I didn't know what else to do with it and any leftover kale always ended up in the compost bin.
That is, until my cousin told me about "kale chips." Crunchy little pieces of kale, baked in the oven, sprinkled with salt. Intriqued, I bought some kale and followed her simple instructions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees, wash and dry the kale. Spray cooking oil over a sheet of aluminum foil on a cookie sheet. Cut or rip up pieces of the kale and lay them on the foil, lightly mist with cooking spray and sprinkle with salt. I also sprinkled a little pepper over them as well. I baked them for 10 minutes, 12 max.
Fresh out of the oven, they were crispy and delicious. Some of the pieces with stems were a little more chewy, but tasty nonetheless (you can cut the leaves completely from the stem prior to baking if you prefer). And healthy, oh so healthy! And low calorie! One whole bunch of kale is about 58 calories! Half a kale is a sufficient snack tho, although a whole kale would be enough for two, but you'd have to do at least four trays for a whole head of kale. This is a wonderful alternative to edamame (soybeans), another favorite snack. Comparatively, a 1/2 cup of shelled soybeans are 120 calories. Kale chips are a fantastic alternative to potato chips and I'm pretty sure kids would like them too, if you don't tell them how healthy they are for you. I've heard some people sprinkle parmesan cheese over them as well, but if you're looking to keep it low cal, forego the cheese. You won't regret it!
Now my compost bin will never benefit from kale again and, it's going to be alot harder to save some for some soup. I may end up buying two heads. . . because after all, two heads are better than one!
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