These were not just a few aphids! They were covering the plants and down into the leaves of the buds! Yuk! I sprayed before pulling because there were so many and I didn't want to shake them (live) all over the rest of the garden! I think they've already hit my new broccoli. I've never HAD aphids in the 6-7 years I've been vege gardening. What I have now is chard, some snow peas, some late green beans, I'm just pulling up the tomatoes, some broccoli and I have lettuce and beets ready to plant. Do aphids bother any of these, or should I shut down the garden for the winter?

Here's what I had read about rhubarb: During the first year of planting, the stalks should not be picked, since food from the leaves is needed to nourish the roots for the next year's growth. One light picking may be taken during the year following planting if the plants are vigorous, and beginning the second year following planting, the entire plant may be harvested. Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.rhubarbinfo.com/rhubarb-growing.html

Sharon, this is going to sound odd, but I have a nice toaster-oven, and it never even occurred to me to roast veggies in it! What a wonderful idea! Not to mention any number of other things that I could cook in it! See, I've never had one before, but one came with this house when we recently moved in. So far, I've only used it to melt cheese on bread or keep bacon warm in the a.m. while getting the rest of the breakfast together. Goodness, it's just the right size to bake a small casserole or a couple of my turkey pot pies I froze after Thanksgiving. This will be wonderful during the summer heat, when there are times when I'd really prefer not to cook everything outdoors, but hate to heat the whole kitchen up with the oven! As for the water left over from boiling veggies, I generally use it making soup or stock of some kind in case the vitamins really do leach out into the water. I tend to be skeptical when it comes to that little factoid, but I figure what the heck. I mean, I'm sure vitamins leach out when veggies are boiled to death, but I shouldn't think that blanching or light cooking would do it.

although i said i don't like them, i've never had them :) Oh, Moonie!! I never let my kids get away with that, so I'm here with a ruler to rap your knuckles. No, wait--I never rapped my kids' knuckles. But I never let them say they didn't like something if they'd never tasted it. So what I have to say to you, Missy, is...... Buy fresh BrusselsSproutsBrusselsSproutsBrusselsSproutsBrusselsSproutsBrusselsSprouts (see? I did it!), and be careful not to overcook them. (Try cutting them in half so they cook more evenly.)