Potted Sprouts

The first set of cabbage sprouts are in soil in small yogurt cups. Let's see what develops.

Trying An Early Start

Will see if starting cabbage seedling indoors will work in zone 5.

Cabbage Forever

On more than one occasion I have waxed poetic about the versatility and virtues of cabbage, but in the interest of brevity I'll avoid doing so here. I'll just present this as another example of why I bother to grow cabbages. This one was planted late and didn't reach the size of some of the others I grew this season. However, it is more than enough to produce several generous servings of coleslaw, which is great by itself, as a side dish or as a topping on shredded chicken or pulled pork sandwiches.

The Year Of The Cabbage

Nine pots, eight harvests. From soup to casserole. From coleslaw to kapusta. It's been a very, merry cabbage year. Let's do it again sometime soon.

Each type of cabbage has its own unique flavor and nutrient profile, but all contain the cancer-fighting glucosinolates and good levels of vitamin C and K.

1. Green Cabbage

This is the most common variety. Pale in color and with tight leaves, it is great for slaws, salads and stir-fries.
Varieties include: Grenadier, Charmant, and January King.

2. Savoy (Curly Cabbage)

Savoy cabbage has looser, crinkled leaves. It is a great addition to your regular green salad, or as the wrapping for a raw burrito.
Varieties: Salarite, Savonarch, Promasa and Wivoy.

3. Napa (Chinese Cabbage)

This popular variety has light green, narrow, crinkled leaves. The leaves are more delicate than those of its green cousin, so they cook much more quickly. It is delicious in salads, curries or just very lightly steamed.

4. Bok Choy

Bok Choy has dark green leaves and white stems and a much different shape than the cabbage you may be used to. Wonderful both raw and cooked, the stems have a sweet flavor when fresh. Other varities: Michihli, Pe-Tsai, Tai-sai, Lei-choi and Pakchoi.

5. Red Cabbage

If I had named this group, I probably would have called them purple rather than red, but don’t let the color deter you. You can use red cabbage in pretty much the same way as the common green variety, and it has a higher lever of protective phytonutrients then its green counterpart. Other varieties of red cabbage: Meteor, Red Rodan, Ruby Ball and Scarlet O’Hara.

National Bosses Day 2017

I'm the boss of my garden, but that doesn't keep the lettuces and cabbages from arguing about who should be the head.

Baby It's Cole Inside

It doesn't take much cabbage to make a tasty coleslaw. And it can be as simple or as complex as you like. It can be spicy or plain. It can be sweet or savory. It can be coarse or fine. It can be... Well, you get the idea. And before I forget, when it's made from cabbage fresh from the garden, that just adds another dimension of taste that simply can't be duplicated by what you'll find in your local store. May I suggest that you try your slaw over a BBQ  pulled pork or BBQ shredded chicken sandwich? The taste and texture will up your sandwich game.

Kapusta

Did you know that August 28th is national bow tie day in the U.S.? And what better way to celebrate it than with a dish made from garden fresh cabbage and sweet onion combined with bow tie pasta? Kapusta is cabbage braised low and slow in a large Dutch oven to bring out the flavor of the onions and marry it with the cabbage as it grows ever more tender.

Kapusta
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 2 1/2 hours

Makes: 6 servings

1 large heavy green cabbage, halved, cored
1 large sweet yellow onion (such as Vidalia)
6 tablespoons olive oil
Pepper and salt

1. Dice: Cut cabbage into ¾ inch dice. Cut onion into ½ inch dice. In a Dutch oven or other large, heavy pot, toss cabbage, onion and oil. (Go ahead, use your hands.) Season generously with pepper.

2. Caramelize: Slide pot into a 325-degree oven and let cook uncovered, stirring now and then, until soft, sweet and golden-brown, about 2 1/2 hours. Season with salt.

3. Serve: Delicious as a side dish to sausage or roast meat. Or boil a pound of bow tie noodles and toss with kapusta for a classic comfort dish.

Ahhhhhhhhhh, Cabbage!

As much as I love lettuce, it has the nasty habit of bolting and turning bitter in the heat of  summer, not so with cabbages. They can continue to grow from the spring through the summer and well into the fall. And cabbage is such a versatile and healthy crop. And it not only provides dietary fiber and antioxidants, but also it's a very good source of manganese, potassium, vitamin B1, folate and copper. And it provides the added benefits of choline, phosphorus, vitamin B2, magnesium, calcium, selenium, iron, pantothenic acid, protein and niacin.

You don't need a patch to grow your cabbages. I've grown mine in individual pots for years. And I can tell you from personal experience that they make an excellent container garden vegetable. So let your garden grow on that balcony or patio. And make sure it contains some potted cabbages.

Laughing All The Way To The Harvest.

It's not easy keeping order in the garden. The cabbages always want to be the head of everything. The potatoes are so annoying, eying everyone around them. And today, the peppers were peckish and got into an argument with the celery, causing them to stalk away . But arguments aside, most of the vegetables agree on one thing. Their favorite talk show host is Okra Winfrey.

Container Cabbage

I love growing cabbage in containers, especially when it produces a nice, solid head as this variety does. And unlike lettuce, cabbage doesn't bolt at the first sign of high temperatures. I harvested my first container cabbage today to use in a dish called cabbage jambalaya. I still have four more remaining and visions of soup, cole slaw and sauerkraut are dancing in my head.

How To Get A Head In The World

Remember that tiny, unassuming cabbage sprout from the photo in March? Well, it's almost grown up and ready for harvest. It wouldn't be worth gardening if fresh cabbage wasn't one of the benefits, in my humble opinion. I'm still just growing mine in containers, but one of these days I'll have to try raising them in a proper cabbage patch just to see how large they can get.

Keeping It Green

Although it doesn't look like much now, in a few weeks this will be a tasty head of cabbage. And it will have star billing in my version of sausage and cabbage soup!

Signs Of Success

My experiment in non-soil based germination has yielded some success. There have been several Golden Acre cabbage sprouts that made it to the transplant stage, but only one each of the Valentine lettuce and Copenhagen cabbage. In the photo you can see a Golden Acre sprout front and center with a Copenhagen sprout off to the right. And just peeking above its container behind the Golden Acre sprout is very young Valentine lettuce.

Something Different This Season

This year I'm germinating my lettuce and cabbage seeds without soil and then transplanting the sprouts to see how well it works out. Wish me luck.