This was my first attempt at growing cabbage. I never had the space before, so with the new vegetables beds I thought I would give them a try. I first tried to grow them from seeds, but with the weird spring we had, like a lot of of my in-ground seeds I planted originally they didn’t sprout. Luckily, I happened upon some organic seedlings at the nursery and planted them. That worked much better.
The head is forming!
This one is a little small, but ready. You can’t visually tell when it’s ready. A cabbage head is ready when when you give it a squeeze, it feels firm like a baseball.
I was able to break the head off the stem, but if it’s got a really thick stem, use a knife to cut it off.
Like everything I had read, cabbage take a fair amount of space. I think mine were a little too close together, or maybe a little too shady. I got 4 heads of cabbage, but they are really different in size. The largest is about the size of a softball, the smallest, a little bigger than a golf ball.
They should have all been the same, but that’s the fun of growing your own. It’s rarely perfect.
I used my first ever cabbage harvest to make my friend Kathy’s Freezer Slaw. I used my own homegrown green peppers, but I had to buy carrots. Bad year for carrots, great year for peppers.
Did you grow anything new this year? How did it turn out?
I’m impressed. I’ve always had the impression cabbage were difficult to grow if you didn’t have cool summers. Never tried it myself, actually. I bet the cole slaw was good!
We’ve had a pretty cool summer, maybe that’s why it grew at all? Definitely going to plant again next year. Cole slaw was very good. Made it last year with store farmers market cabbage, so happy to make it with my cabbage this year.