My father, Bob Ludwig, grew a huge garden every year, and he was especially fond of growing weird things. Someone sent him some cotton seeds one year, so he grew cotton. He grew peanuts and let his grandkids dig them up. He got some experimental popcorn from the Lab where he worked, and it was the greatest stuff ever! The kernels, instead of being tooth-breaking rocks, were like styrofoam. It got so we wanted the kernels to only half-pop so we could eat the "old maids." Bob didn't know the seed's specific name, and he could never grow any more of it.

One of the veggies that he introduced to us was kohlrabi. It's a strange, other-worldly looking thing. It's a round lime-green ball with leaves sticking out from the ball. Looks like you'd expect Sputnik to look (for those of you who are old enough to remember Sputnik), or maybe like something in the Jetsons (for those of you a little younger).

We peeled off the green skin and sliced the thing thin. I usually soaked the slices in ice water to make them extra-crisp. The taste is something between a turnip, a potato and a radish. This month's Arthritis Today Magazine has a bit about kohlrabi that I didn't know: you can saute the leaves in oil and garlic and eat them, too!

So this next spring someone in the family has to plant kohlrabi. Maybe I'll even plant some in my flower bed. Who'd guess it wasn't some expensive and rare flower?