Is Cabbage the New Kale?

 I may be late on this trend, but I'm hearing from our gardening customers that cabbage is the new kale. I'm not much of a greens lover myself, but have always liked the combinations of vegetables in Cole slaw. Cabbage is part of our St. Patrick's day fare and, in Baltimore, a much loved Thanksgiving side as sauerkraut. 

My family, (my dad in particular was a meat and potatoes guy), saw few greens other than lettuce served with dinner for our family of eight. When I began working at Valley View Farms in our produce department, I remember being handed a head of cabbage to weigh. I thought it was really heavy lettuce. Thus began my learning about other vegetables.

A few years later, my husband's parents, a German immigrant and his southern belle wife, taught me more about vegetables in the garden and in the kitchen. Collards, kale, and other greens were cooked along side black-eyed peas and cabbage. A new cuisine was introduced to me. 

Kale and Broccoli 

Vegetable transplants are grown at our farm greenhouses by John and his crew to sell in both spring and late summer (for fall harvest) at the store. Cabbage is being sought after by more and more gardeners. We had reduced varieties a few years ago and added 3 varieties of kale. Now we are considering bringing back some of the other cabbages back into our line of  transplants.

Cabbage transplants

Golden Acre cabbage is an early cabbage (65 days) with dense, compact round heads. It is a great variety to use for Cole slaw, stir fries and many other dishes. 

Photo courtesy Baker Creek Heirloom Seed

Red Jewel F1, a 3-5 pound hybrid cabbage, features round, deep heads with a short core that matures in about 75 days. 

Photo courtesy Ball Seed

China King F1, is a miniature Chinese cabbage with barrel-shaped heads and a yellow interior color. The miniature Napa cabbage can be grown in 55 days from transplant and weighs in at about 2 pounds.

 

Photo courtesy Ball Seed

We've been asked to grow Savoy cabbage again and may add it to our offerings this fall or next spring. Savoy Ace F1 has crinkled leaves and a super holding capacity.  

Photo courtesy AAS

In an article on Web MD, cabbage is chock full of vitamins, helps cleanse our gut, provides probiotics when fermented (sauerkraut), helps prevent cancer, keeps blood sugar under control, and provides scores of other benefits. It is indeed a Superfood. 

One of our young plant growers offers weekly recipes in a newsletter. Cabbage Soup, a healthy warm dish is just one of several recipes  from Bob's Market.

Jan grows greens including kale and Swiss chard in her raised beds. 

I may have to grow some myself this spring in my Earth Box on the patio. Slaw for all this summer!

Plants of the Week: Pansies and Violas

 Spring isn't officially here until the pansies and violas make their first trip to the store from our farm greenhouses. And, so, they've started to arrive. While the colors and fragrances of these plants make them a gardener's cool- weather- favorite -flowers, the incredible variety of patterns, growing habits, and bloom sizes bring new fans each season. Our farm greenhouses grow most of what we carry this time of year, with several other local growers adding to the mix as needed. 

Combine with primroses, ajuga, and other perennials 

Solid colors or pansies and violas with 'faces' are beautiful

Pansies typically are planted in the spring garden. They like growing in the cooler winter season, where they may be started from tiny plugs in our greenhouses in late January to be shipped to the garden center by mid-March. The blooms are bigger and very vibrant. We grow them in the summer for fall as well, but the blooms tend to be smaller at first. The best part about fall pansies is that they will come back up for spring, making them perfect companions to daffodils and tulips. 

Happiest during cooler weather, even surviving the snow in winter

Let's get this spring going! The daffodils and hellebores are blooming. Fresh pansies and violas will be planted in the containers along the front walk. Bulbs in pots have started to emerge. With Easter just 3 weeks away, I'm ready!

Yellow violas with tulips

Bluish pansies with tulips

Happy place, happy face

Selection

Jump-ups

Looking happy to be headed to Cockeysville from the farm.