Crop Comments: Cabbage’s cousins counter soilborne pathogens

The Brassica genus boasts in its membership many of our most well-known vegetables: cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, rutabaga, turnips, kohlrabi, Brussels sprouts, collards, kale, mustard and more. My first contact with this genus as a source of soil fumigants occurred about 20 years ago. At the time, several associates and I were making biodiesel. Our most common raw material for this alternative fuel was waste vegetable oil, donated by local restaurants.