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Garden

Cabbage Gardening

Cabbage Gardening

Cabbage, made up of several types of Brassica, is a leafy green, red, or white colored biennial plant grown as an annual for its dense multi-layered leaved heads. The leaves are commonly smooth in texture, but crinkle-leafed savoy cabbages are also grown (my favorites). They weigh generally from 1 to 5 lbs. however there are varieties that grow much larger for. Cabbage heads are picked during the first year of the plant’s life cycle. Plants intended for seed are grown into a second year.

Cabbage contain the following vitamins and minerals:

Thiamine (B1); Riboflavin (B2); Niacin (B3); B5; Vitamin B6; Folate; Vitamin C and Vitamin K

Calcium; Iron; Magnesium; Manganese; Phosphorus; Potassium; Sodium and Zinc

Cabbage History

It is descended from the wild cabbage and belongs to the brassicas, meaning it is closely related to broccoli, cauliflower and brussels sprouts. Cabbage was most likely domesticated somewhere in Europe before 1000 BC. Savoy cabbage was developed around the 16th century AD. World production of cabbage and other brassicas for 2017 was 71 million tons, with China accounting for 47% of the world total.

Types of Cabbage

Green

Early Golden Acre; a northern favorite that is ideal for smaller gardens. Round and compact, their heads average 2-3 pounds of sweet flavor – Ferry Morse

Early Jersey Wakefield; favorite with a distinctly sweet flavor – Burpee

Red

Salad Delight; an early maturing red cabbage with a 3 lb. head – Burpee

Red Express; very nice color and early maturity, compact habit 2 – 4 lb. heads – High Mowing Seeds

Savoy

Perfection Savoy; heirloom green savoy – Hudson Valley Seed Co

Purple Savoy; Produces small, 1-3 pound heads, a bit later than other varieties – Hudson Valley Seed Co

Cabbage has been selectively bred for head weight and characteristics such as frost hardiness, fast growth and storage ability. The appearance of the cabbage head has been given importance in selective breeding, with varieties being chosen for shape, color, firmness and other physical characteristics.

Commercial breeding objectives are now focused on increasing resistance to various insects and diseases and improving the nutritional content of cabbage. Unfortunately, this means in too many cases GMO. In my opinion it is better to put up with pests and disease management than to grow anything GMO, I may be wrong but allowing scientists and others to create something that may very well be a plant-based-Frankenstein is unsettling.

Where to Plant

Cabbage plants can handle full sun to light shade, so at least 5 to 6 hours of sun. Since cabbage plants are not setting flowers or fruit, they do not need a full day of sun. Cabbage gardening in warmer climates will require some shade during hot months, so the plants do not dry out. If you can, rotate where you plant. Try to avoid planting where cabbage as well as other brassicas have been planted for at least 2 years.

When to Plant

There are cabbage seedlings available at every garden center in spring, but for the best variety you will need to start yours from seed. You can start seeds indoors, about 6 to 10 weeks before your last expected frost date. Cabbages can handle a little frost, so you can transplant seedlings outdoors close to your last frost date as long as the soil is able to be worked and if a hard frost is expected you can cover the plants. Just make sure that any plants started and grown under lights are given the time to acclimate to the sun before being planted into the garden.



How to Plant

Space plants about 2 feet apart in rows with approximately the same spacing. Later plantings can be direct sown in the garden for fall harvest.

Plant Care

Plants perform best when grown in well-drained soil. Different varieties prefer different soil types, ranging from lighter sand to heavier clay, but all prefer fertile ground with a pH between 6.0 and 6.8. For optimal growth when cabbage gardening, there must be adequate levels of nitrogen in the soil, sufficient phosphorus and potassium. Temperatures between 39 and 75 °F prompt the best growth, and extended periods of higher or lower temperatures may result in plants “going nowhere”.

Cabbage likes even moisture to produce good heads. Mulch with compost, finely ground leaves, or finely ground bark to keep the soil cool and moist and to keep down weeds. Water regularly, applying 1 to 1.5 inches of water per week (including rain).

Fertilize plants with a 10-10-10 fertilizer after they begin to develop new leaves and when they start forming heads.

Pests

Cabbage worms and cabbage loopers are the main pest threats. They will munch holes throughout the leaves. Their coloring allows them to blend in with the cabbage, but they can be handpicked easily if you can see them. If you see small white moths around your plants, try and kill them. Check under cabbage leaves for small white (extremely small) nodes – these are the cabbage moth eggs. Crush them!! If you see wasps flying around your cabbages – leave them be, they are hunting the cabbage moth larvae.

Slugs will also attack your cabbages as will cutworms. Spread diatomaceous earth around the plants base. The diatomaceous earth will kill the insects but will not harm the plant and to top that, it is organic.

Root-knot nematodes and cabbage maggots attack the plant below soil level and produce stunted and wilted plants with yellow leaves. Predatory nematodes are a good organic solution to these pests.

Rabbits can also become a problem. If you have rabbits around, fence or net your cabbage beds.

Diseases

One of the most common bacterial diseases to affect cabbage is black rot which causes lesions that start at the leaf margins and wilting of plants.

Clubroot, caused by the Plasmodiophora brassicae, results in swollen, club-like roots. If you have soil PH below 6.0 consider raising it with lime to 6.8 – 7.0, by doing so you may avoid the issues with clubroot.

Downy mildew produces pale leaves with white, brownish or olive mildew on the lower leaf surfaces.

Harvesting

For cabbage that head’s up check for “ripeness” by squeezing it. A head that looks solid and ready may still be flimsy and loose leafed on the inside. When it feels firm, cut the head from the base of the plant. I do let cabbages ready to harvest stay in the garden if I am backed up on work but ff a head cracks, cut it right away. When cabbage gardening is done and cabbages are harvested, remove the remainder of the plant. cabbage gardening lends itself to double cropping with other plants. After you clean up the bed try planting turnips, beets or spinach for extra crop. Heads will keep for several weeks in the refrigerator.

Garden

Cucumber Gardening Information

Cucumber:

Cucumbers have always been a staple in my gardens. They are relatively easy to grow, if handled right are big producers and cucumbers are able to be eaten fresh, added to recipes and they store well as pickles.

This year I planted 10 feet of cucumbers. I chose 1 type to plant. It was a “slicing” cucumber. I chose Burpee’s Straight Eight. The Advertising for these cucumbers states:

A cucumber superstar, this classic has excellent flavor and is widely adapted.
This heirloom, All-America Selections winner is a cuke for all burpee_straight_eight_Cucumberseasons. Pick when 8″ long for top flavor. For perfect cukes, grow them on a fence or our space-saving Trellis Netting. Sow seeds 6″ apart in rows, or plant 5 or 6 seeds in groups (hills) 4 to 5′ apart.
Sun: Full Sun
Height: 6-8 inches
Spread: 36 inches
Days to Maturity: 58 days
Sowing Method: Direct Sow
Fruit Size: 6-8 inches

I planted 10 feet of straight eights – 4 mounds of 2 plants each. I found the Burpee straight eight to be a very good cucumber. Fantastic taste and prolific. One issue we had with them is if we let them go a week extra, we would need to scrape out the seeds since they started to take over the cucumber.

We started the cucumbers in mid-May in the green house in large seed pots filled with starter soil. They were not planted until the second week of June when the plants already had 3 sets of leaves. I set up a plastic wide-mesh fence so the plants could climb. As far as fertilizer, we used miracle grow 10-10-10 – 3 times during the season. We had no issues with pests and in-fact honey bees were common the entire summer around the “cukes”, something that made me happy since for the last five or so years seeing honey bees in any quantity has become very rare. I try not to use chemicals and in late September we lost all the cucumbers to powdery-mildew. So, word to the wise – beware.

We ended up picking 32lbs. over the season. Almost all eaten or given to the “kids” In accordance with my garden book written by James Underwood Crockett – that is a decent average for the amount I planted.

Some Cucumber Info:

Description

Even though long, dark green, smooth-skinned garden cucumbers are familiar vegetables in the produce sections of most groceries, cucumbers come in a wide variety of colors, sizes, shapes and textures. You’ll find white, yellow, and even orange-colored cucumbers, and they may be short, slightly oval, or even round in shape. Their skins can be smooth and thin, or thick and rough. In a technical sense, cucumbers are actually fruits, not vegetables.
All cucumbers belong to the botanical plant family called Curcubitaceae. This broad family of plants includes melons and squashes.

Burpee_CucumbersWhile there are literally hundreds of different varieties of cucumbers, virtually all can be divided into two basic types: slicing and pickling. Slicing cucumbers include all varieties that are cultivated for consumption in fresh form. Pickling cucumbers include all varieties that are cultivated not for consumption in fresh form, but for processing into pickles.

Growing Cucumbers

Cucumbers are fairly easy to grow if you take care of a few things:
1. They like a fairly neutral soil.
2. They are heavy feeders so when planting make sure to add either: compost, well rotted manure, some grass clippings or anything that will help provide nourishment for the plants.
3. They need water so make sure to provide plenty and if you keep the water off the leaves all the better to avoid powdery-mildew.
4. You can double crop cucumbers. Start the second sowing in late June in pots. By late July pick all cucumbers from 1st crop, pull out plants, add some 10-10-10 or 5-10-10 fertilizer and plant the young plants. This should give you a good crop by Mid-August and depending on your average frost dates, you should have cucumbers “till-the end”.

History

Cucumber plants naturally thrive in both temperate and tropical environments, and generally require temperatures between 60-90°F. For this reason, they are native to many regions of the world. In evolutionary terms, the first cucumbers were likely to have originated in Western Asia (and perhaps more specifically in India) or parts of the Middle East. It was not until the time of the European colonists that cucumbers finally appeared in North America in the 1500’s.