But the real stars this week have been our cabbage. They have started forming a head and I'm hoping will be ready to pick soon.
Here's some tips for growing cabbage:
- Planting times for our area are Jan. 15- Feb. 28th and Sept. 15th - Nov. 7th
- Plant 18" apart - cabbage can get pretty big
- Unless you're planning on canning the cabbage for, say, sauerkraut (yum) or plan on freezing it (yuck) you should think about succession planting. Start early in your planting time, for us that would be in September, and then plant a few every two weeks. That way you can harvest the large heads and have smaller ones still growing.
- You can either direct sow the seeds or start in packs and transplant.
- Plant with lots of compost and top dress mid season.
- Cabbage likes cool weather so when it starts to warm up (upper 80's) it will get bitter
- For the most part cabbage is pretty easy to grow. Try not to get compost or dirt down into the head. Water the dirt - without splashing- not the plant.
- Caterpillars do like cabbage and you can us bt to get rid of them. bt won't hurt people or plants or any other insect, just caterpillars.
Harvesting and Storing:
- Harvest any time after the head has formed.
- Store in a cold cellar
- In mild climates, like ours, you can just leave them growing in the ground all winter.
This post is linked to Barn Hop. and Tuesday Garden Party
Wow, your cabbage looks pretty.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Patty. I'm so excited to have cabbage soon.
DeleteLooks Like you have a great helper!
ReplyDeleteI actually have 6 great helpers but she's the only one who still loves to pose for the camera. Thanks for stopping by.
DeleteI agree, your cabbage looks wonderful and pretty. How fun! I am curious what bt is. Have you grown corn with success? Also, what can you tell me about composting? What do you compost? I plan to start composting as soon as we get moved. Do you put grass clippings in your compost? I don't want to pull a ton of weeds from the garden, but I have heard that you really need leaves and grass in your compost to make a good one.
ReplyDeletebt is an organic "insecticide" that only kills caterpillars. It's a bacteria that makes the caterpillar not hungery and so he stops eating. I don't use it alot, but I do use it occassionally on cabbage and broccoli. I also used the liquid version during our war on the vine borers on our squash last year. It worked well.
ReplyDeleteWe keep a pile of leaves, you can also add kitchen scraps but we give those to the hens. We also put leaves in our chicken run for the hens to scratch up. We don't collect our grass clippings, we just leave them on the ground. The key with compost is to get it hot. If it reaches 160 degrees as it breaks down then (theoretically) it will kill all the seeds. That's why grass clippings are ok in it. I personally don't worry to much about how much brown and how much green to put on the pile. I just try to keep it moist and turn it occassionally. Any organic matter will break down over time, it will just be faster if you have a mix of green and brown. Also, your chickens will be a good help with this.
We have grown corn successfully, but we won't be growing it this year. It takes a lot of space and each stalk only gives you one, maybe two, ears. And I can buy local corn here in the summer 10 ears for $1. Probably the biggest tip is that after the plant is pollinated - the tassels will begin to wilt - put some mineral oil on them to keep out the worms. I have a page on corn from last summer in the garden section.
Thanks for your info! I look forward to trying all these wonderful things out.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, we won't be able to have chickens. I was so disappointed to find this out. Evidently, our county doesn't like chickens very much so they give really strict rules for poultry. Our property size is not in the correct dimensions to have a hen house or pen with correct distance from all property lines. My husband says we should raise rabbits for food! I am not sure. I have to think on that one.
Your plant starts look wonderful, and I envy your ability to grow such handsome cabbage! We are plagued with cabbage moths here, and about the only way I could grow it in my garden is to cover it through its entire growth cycle with row cover, for which I have not found an inexpensive source. I sometimes do a bit of kale, another brassica, under plastic in the fall, and that does survive unharmed, because the moths are dead and gone by that time of the year.
ReplyDeleteA great start to Spring! We have snow on the ground this morning, so the garden will have to wait.
ReplyDelete