by Leslie Cox; Thursday, November 8, 2018

Picked some curly kale for drying in my dehydrator earlier this week. There are still lots of leaves on the plants for kale salads but I like to dry some for smoothies…just in case the plants are snow damaged, or it is simply too nasty to run out to the garden to pick fresh. Stored in a glass jar in my cool, dark pantry, the dried kale keeps well.

Back to the kale picking…well, you can just imagine what I discovered. Yup. Cabbage aphids or Brevicoryne brassicae in insect-speak. Yuck. What started out as a quick job of picking, washing, spinning and drying the leaves with a towel turned into a wee marathon as I gave those aphids the wash of their lives to dislodge them.

All of this extra work begged for a quiet sit in front of my computer with a cup of tea, once the dehydrator was filled and humming. Naturally, I just had to write about those cabbage aphids.

Check out the information about Brevicoryne brassicae in Insects We Have Found under In the Garden on the main menu bar. Or follow the quick link here.