Saturday, November 08, 2014

After the Rains Come the Snails

Snails on the Kale


We had our first rain of the season to break our long drought last week. This made all the inhabitants of the California Central Coast very happy. It also reactivated the snails.

Unfortunately, I had not thought to reapply my favorite snail bait before the rain. I don't use poisons, since I'm an organic gardener, but the bait I use contains iron phosphate which kills the snails without affecting people or pets. 


When I went out to pick my kale to cook for dinner, I saw baby snails on the underside of the most chewed up leaves. 



After the Rains Come the Snails
Snail on Kale, © B. Radisavljevic 

The Brown Bug


 I also saw this brown bug. I'm not sure what it is. I'm hoping it doesn't have too many friends in my yard. I'm hoping the bugs aren't as voracious as the snails. 


After the Rains Come the Snails
Brown Bug on Kale, © B. Radisavljevic 


I did spread what snail bait I had left, around my kale and chard plants to try to discourage any more baby snails, but I think I'll have to spend some time hand picking some off tomorrow. 


How I Cooked the Kale

After cleaning the kale and a couple of dandelion plants I also plucked from the garden, I chopped them up and stir fried them with chopped onions and garlic in the grease from two slices of bacon I had cooked and removed to let them drain. I added a bit of olive oil before adding the veggies. After stir frying the veggies until the greens were limp and the onions transparent, I added a bit of lemon juice, vinegar, and soy sauce before crumbling the two slices of cooked bacon and adding it back in. I turned it on low and covered it until everything was tender enough to eat. As far as I know, we did not have any escargot.


How do you cook your kale? If you still need ideas, try one of these recipe books and you'll turn into a kale chef.



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