- Author: Lauria Watts
If were inspired by our Fermentation class and you have made some Kimchi, try some of the following recipes. If you have not made your kimchi, well what are you waiting for?:
Kimchi Fried Rice
2 cups cold cooked rice
2 teaspoons oil
1 egg, beaten
green onions, thinly sliced (whites and greens), as many as you wish
Kimchi, diced coarsely, as much as you wish (I suggest 1/2 cup diced)
salt and pepper to taste
Have all of your ingredients at the ready.
Heat a medium heavy steel or cast iron frying pan till it is HOT. Pour in 2 teaspoons oil, swirl to coat pan, toss in the rice. Cook, tossing the rice constantly until it is hot. Make a well in the middle of the rice and pour in the egg; cook, stirring the egg into the rice gradually until egg is cooked. Stir in the green onions and stir fry briefly until they turn a brighter green. Toss in the Kimchi and stir fry just until it is warmed--do not overcook. Serve immediately.
How about using some chopped kimchi in a grilled cheese sandwich to spice it up?
(Thank you Serious Eats.com)
2 tablespoons butter, cut into three even pieces
2 slices hearty white bread, such as Pepperidge Farm or Arnold [some sourdough perhaps?--L. Watts]
2 slices American, Cheddar, or Jack cheese [and a good, melty Muenster would be good! -L. Watts]
1/2 cup kimchi, drained and roughly chopped
Kosher salt if desired
Melt one third of butter in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat until foaming subsides. Add both bread slices and cook, swirling occasionally, until pale golden brown on bottom side, about 2 minutes.
Transfer to a cutting board toasted-side-up. Place one cheese slice on top of one slice of bread. Top with kimchi and second cheese slice. Close sandwich, with both toasted sides facing inwards.
Melt one more piece of butter in the skillet and reduce heat to medium low. Add sandwich and cook, swirling occasionally, until deep, even golden brown, about 5 minutes. Remove sandwich using a flexible metal spatula. Add the remaining butter. Return sandwich to skillet cooked-side up. Season with salt. Cook, swirling occasionally, until second side is deep, even golden brown and cheese is thoroughly melted, about 5 minutes. Serve immediately.
And last but not least, Kimchi and Avocado Quesadillas!
(Thank you My Recipes.com )
8 flour tortillas, 7 to 8 in. in diameter
1 jar (14 oz.) kimchi, drained and chopped
2 cups shredded jack cheese
2 avocados, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
Cilantro leaves
Top 4 tortillas evenly with kimchi, then with cheese, avocados, and remaining tortillas.
Mix oil, vinegar, and sesame seeds in a small bowl; set aside.
Heat a 12-in. frying pan over medium-high heat. Toast each quesadilla until lightly browned and cheese has melted, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Slice each quesadilla into wedges, sprinkle with cilantro, and serve.
Border images on right courtesy of:
Bayartai [CC0], from Wikimedia Commons
and
푹푹이 [CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Advice for the Home Gardener from the Help Desk of the
UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County
![Who's Been Eating My Cabbage? Who's Been Eating My Cabbage?](http://ucanr.edu/blogs/CCMGBlog/blogfiles/56082.jpg)
MGCC Help Desk Response: Thank you for contacting the UC Master Gardener Program with your question about bugs on your cabbage plants. Thanks also for the helpful photo. Since the tiny white bugs that you previously saw are now gone, it's hard to tell exactly what they were, but possibilities include whiteflies. This UC website has pictures of the various insects likely to affect cabbages - you might be able to identify them by scrolling through the 'invertebrates' section.http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/GARDEN/VEGES/cabbage.html
Regarding the damage that you now see, I think the most likely culprit is the Imported Cabbageworm. This is a small green caterpillar, the larva of the white butterflies very commonly seen in vegetable gardens.
http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/GARDEN/VEGES/PESTS/importcabwrm.html . If you look carefully on the young leaves of your plant you may see these caterpillars - when just hatched they are quite small.
Now for how to control this pest. Once they are present on the plant there are a couple of organically approved sprays that will kill the caterpillars on contact; Spinosad or Bacillus thuringiensis (BT). The Cabbage worm website (above) has links with more information on these pesticides. You can also pick them off by hand. One very useful strategy to prevent the butterflies from laying eggs is to cover the plants with lightweight row cover http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/GARDEN/VEGES/ENVIRON/protectivecov.html . This material can be found at some nurseries or online - I use this myself, and have found that once the winter sets in the butterflies are no longer around and the cover can be removed. With some minimal
care you can use the row cover for many years.
I hope this is helpful, and that your cabbages will recover now. Once the head starts to form it's hard to get at caterpillars down inside the curved leaves, so you should try and kill as many as you can now! If you think that the problem is something else, and you can get a photo of any pests please do get back to us.
Help Desk of the UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County (SMW)
Note: UC Master Gardeners Program of Contra Costa's Help Desk is available almost year-round to answer your gardening questions. Except for a few holidays (e.g., last 2 weeks December), we're open every week, Monday through Thursday for walk-ins from 9:00 am to Noon at 2380 Bisso Lane, Concord, CA 94520. We can also be reached via telephone: (925) 608-6683, email: ccmg@ucanr.edu, or on the web at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/Ask_Us/.
MGCC Blogs can be found at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/HortCoCo/ You can also subscribe to the Blog (//ucanr.edu/blogs/CCMGBlog/)
- Author: Lauria Watts
I know, some of you out there are wondering what to do with fresh, home-made sauerkraut. First thing I recommend is to taste it and if you like it, eat it. Try some on a little pile of fresh rice to check out your sauerkraut's flavor.
If you don't like it, keep trying and maybe it will grow on you?
If you DO like it, well, that opens up a lot of other options. You could try a classic sandwich, The Reuben--delicious! A likely looking suspect (of a recipe) is here: Reuben Sandwich at Simply Recipes .
How about a soup--the weather is kinda cool enough for soup right now! Simple sauerkraut soup at Czech Vegan
How about a drink before dinner? Sauerkraut Martini at The Kitchn
Dip for chips with that drink-- Sauerkraut Corned Beef Dip at The Food Network
A side dish perhaps? Very simple creamy sauerkraut with chives
Main dish! Sauerkraut & Sausage Casserole on Eating Well
And lastly, but not leastly, DESSERT! Sauerkraut Pie with Palatable Pastime
Did any of the above whet your appetite for sauerkraut?
- Author: Lauria Watts
Our latest class is coming up--DIY Fermetation!
Freshly fermented foods are delicious, and if you have never had home-made, home-fermented sauerkraut, you are in for a treat.
Make sure you attend this class for really good, easy-to-do, home-fermented sauerkraut.
- Author: Surendra K. Dara
- Author: Sumanth S. R. Dara
- Author: Suchitra S. Dara
Entomopathogenic fungi such as Beauveria bassiana (commercial formulations, BotaniGard and Mycotrol), Isaria fumosorosea (NoFly and Pfr-97), and Metarhizium brunneum (Met52) are primarily used for controlling arthropod pests. Research in the recent years evaluated their endophytic (colonizing plant tissues) and mycorrhiza-like (associated with roots) relationship with plants and potential benefits in improving plant growth and health. Studies conducted in California showed that B. bassiana endophytically colonized strawberry plants and persisted for up to 9 weeks in various plant tissues (Dara and Dara, 2015a); promoted strawberry plant growth (Dara, 2013); and negatively impacted green peach aphids through endophytic action (Dara, 2016). Soil application of M. brunneum appeared to have a positive impact on strawberry plants in withstanding twospotted spider mite infestations (Dara and Dara, 2015b). Similarly, M. anisopliae reduced the salt stress in soybean (Khan et al., 2012) and M. robertsii enhanced root growth and nutrient absorption in switch grass and haricot beans (Behie et al., 2012; Sasan and Bidochka, 2012). In another study, nitrogen obtained from an insect host through infection (entomopathogenic relationship) was transferred by B. bassiana and Metarrhizum spp. to a plant through an endophytic or mycorrhiza-like relationship.
Several beneficial microbe-based products are commercially available to promote plant growth under normal or stressful conditions and to boost plant defenses against pests and diseases. However, several mycorrhizae do not form a symbiotic relationship with several cruciferous hosts and mycorrhizae-based products are typically not used in cole crops. If entomopathogenic fungi, which have a great promise for pest management in IPM programs, could also promote plant growth and health through an endophytic or mycorrhiza-like relationship, they will maximize their potential for multipurpose use in crop protection and production and potentially reduce the cost of applying multiple products for multiple purposes.
A study was conducted in 2014 to evaluate the impact of B. bassiana, I. fumosorosea, and M. brunneum on potted cabbage plants growing in artificial light with reduced water.
Methodology
About 3-week old cabbage (var. Supreme Vantage) transplants (obtained from Plantel Nurseries, Santa Maria, CA) were planted in Miracle-Gro® Moisture Control Potting Mix (NPKFe 0.21-0.07-0.14-0.10) in 650 ml containers. Treatments included BotaniGard ES (1 ml), Met 52 EC (1 ml), NoFly WP (2.5 mg), SumaGrow (2.3 ml), CropSignal (1 ml), Mykos Liquid (0.03 ml), and H2H (10 ml) in 100 ml of water which were added to each container in respective treatments. Miracle-Gro alone was used as the control. Each treatment had 10 plants which were grown under artificial lighting (75 W plant light in each corner). To each container, 50 ml of water was added again on 42, 50, 64, and 81 days after planting. Temperatures during the study were 56o (minimum), 71o (average), and 88o F (maximum).
Treatments used in the study
![Treatments-Surendra Dara Treatments-Surendra Dara](http://ucanr.edu/blogs/strawberries-vegetables/blogfiles/38956.jpg)
Data were collected as follows:
- Plant health rating was recorded at 40 and 70 days after planting on a scale of 0 to 5 where 0=dead, 1=weak, 2=moderate-low, 3=moderate-high, 4=good, and 5=very good.
- Plant survival was recorded at 40, 70, and 90 days after planting.
- Shoot and root length were recorded at 90 days after planting by unearthing each plant from the containers.
- Shoot-to-root ratio was calculated.
- Plants from each treatment were placed in paper bags and dried in an oven at 98oF for 8 days. Dry weight (biomass) of the plants was measured before sending them to an analytical lab for nutrient analysis.
Data were subjected to analysis of variance and significant means were separated using Least Significant Difference test. Since some treatments had fewer plants by the end of the study, biomass measurement and nutrient analysis were done together for all the remaining plants and those two parameters were not subjected to statistical analysis.
Results
Plant survival: Beauveria bassiana was the only treatment where all the plants survived for 90 days of the observation period. There was a 10 to 80% mortality in other treatments during the observation period. Highest plant mortality was seen in SumaGrow and H2H treatments (P = 0.001 at 40 days after planting and
Plant health: Plants treated with B. bassiana were significantly and uniformly healthier (P < 0.00001) than the rest of the treatments on both observation dates with a ‘very good' rating. Health of the plants growing in Miracle-Gro with no supplements also had a ‘good' rating and was better than the health of plants in most of the remaining treatments. Plants treated with SumaGrow and H2H had poor health with a ‘weak' rating.
Shoot and root length: Plants treated with B. bassiana and M. brunneum had significantly (P < 0.00001) longer shoots than other treatments. Miracle-Gro-treated plants were shorter than those treated with these two entomopathogenic fungi, but longer than those in the remaining treatments. When root growth was compared, plants growing in Miracle-Gro alone and along with Crop Signal had significantly (P < 0.00001) longer roots than the rest.
Shoot-to-root ratio: Beauveria bassiana and M. brunneum treatments contributed to a significantly (P < 0.00001) higher ratio than the rest of the treatments.
Biomass and nutrient absorption: Plants treated with B. bassiana had relatively higher biomass. When the plant weight as a result of accumulated nutrients was calculated by dividing the weight with respective nutrient content, B. bassiana appeared to have relatively higher output for nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium based on numerical values. Such an effect for iron was seen in all, except H2H, treatments compared to Miracle-Gro alone. However, these values are only indicative as they were not subjected to statistical analysis.
This is the first report of the direct impact of entomopathogenic fungi on cabbage plant growth. Beauveria bassiana and to some extent M. brunneum had a positive impact on plant growth and health even under reduced water conditions. If they could be used to promote plant growth, improve water and nutrient absorption, withstand saline or drought conditions, increase yields in addition to their typical use as biopesticides, then they can play a critical role as holistic tools in sustainable agriculture.
Acknowledgements: Thanks to Plantel Nurseries Inc. for donating cabbage transplants, and Advanced Soil Technologies, Bioworks Inc, California Safe Soil, Novozymes Biologicals, Reforestation Technologies International, and SumaGrow USA for various treatment materials used in this study.
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References:
Behie, S.W., P.M. Zelisko, and M.J. Bidochka. 2012. Endophytic insect-parasitic fungi translocate nitrogen directly from insects to plants. Science 336: 1576-1577.
Dara, S. K. 2013. Entomopathogenic fungus, Beauveria bassiana promotes strawberry plant growth and health. UCCE eNewsletter Strawberries and Vegetables, 30 September, 2013. (http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=11624)
Dara, S. K. and S. R. Dara. 2015a. Entomopathogenic fungus, Beauveria bassiana endophytically colonizes strawberry plants. UCCE eNewsletter Strawberries and Vegetables, 17 February, 2015. (http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=16811)
Dara, S. K. and S. R. Dara. 2015b. Soil application of the entomopathogenic fungus, Metarhizium brunneum protects strawberry plants from spider mite damage. UCCE eNewsletter Strawberries and Vegetables, 18 February, 2015. (http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=16821)
Dara, S. K. 2016. Endophytic Beauveria bassiana negatively impacts green peach aphids on strawberries. UCCE eNewsletter Strawberries and Vegetables, 2 August, 2016. (http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=21711)
Sasan, R.K. and M.J. Bidochka. 2012. The insect-pathogenic fungus Metarhizium robertsii (Clavicipitaceae) is also an endophyte that stimulates plant root development. Amer. J. Bot. 99:101-107.
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