Cabbage ( How to Grow and Health Benefits )

               Hello to you all, and welcome back with us today on Garden The Easy way, this is Ken and Marilou. Today we would like to talk about Cabbage it is so delicious and so very healthy for us, cabbage is at the top of the list of  the worlds most healthy of all of our vegetables.

               There are so many different kinds of cabbage you can grow in your garden which ever kind you choose to plant most all cabbage is planted the same way. We will share today with you how quick and easy cabbage is to plant in your garden, but first there is some very healthy benefits we would like to tell you about.

               Cabbage can provide you with some special cholesterol-lowering benefits if you will cook it by steaming. The fiber-related components in cabbage do a better job of binding together with bile acids in your digestive tract when they've been steamed. Cabbage provides you with this cholesterol-lowering benefit whether it is raw or cooked. However, a recent study has shown that the cholesterol-lowering ability of raw cabbage improves significantly when it is steamed. Cabbage is excellent source of vitamin C and a good source of vitamin A. Cabbage in general&mash; but also Savoy cabbage in particular&mash; turns out to be an especially good source of sinigrin. Sinigrin is one of the cabbage glucosinolates that has received special attention in cancer prevention research. The sinigrin in cabbage can be converted into allyl-isothiocyanate, or AITC. This isothiocyanate compound has shown unique cancer preventive properties with respect to bladder cancer, colon cancer, and prostate cancer.  Cabbage is not only healthy for you, it is delicious vegetables for your dinner table, and there are so many recipes that you and your family will love.  

               How To Plant Cabbage    

1. Your soil is important, make sure your soil is a dark rich looking color, you can add 2 to 3 inches of compost and 2 to 3 inches of aged manure, ( cow or horse )  mix well with your garden tiller and pick up any rocks and roots out of your garden. Take your garden rake and level the soil, use your garden hoe to make the rows.

2. Grow your cabbage in at least 50% shade or under a shade-cloth. Start them in flats. Plant your cabbage after all danger of frost and cold weather has passed.  

3. Transplant the cabbage so the first real leaves are just above the soil. This should be deep enough to keep the plants stable. Pack the soil so the root system is completely covered, water well after planting.

4. Protect the seedlings after transplant from insects and pests, by covering the cabbage rows with a lightweight cover. Aphids, cabbage worms, and cabbage maggots can spoil your harvest.  

5. Cabbage loves water,  cabbage is a fast growing vegetables so you will need to water it everyday.    

6. Days to Harvest:  It's all depend on the kind of cabbage you plant, how long it takes to form a head. When will cabbage make a head? is varied. The common green cabbage form heads more quickly than the huge Savoy cabbage. You can expect to see heads in approximately 71 days with green cabbage. Red cabbage takes slightly longer and Nappa cabbage will form small heads in only 57 days. Cabbage head formation sometimes occurs better in the most gently warming conditions of spring than in the cooling days of the fall. Consult the seed packet for days from seed to harvest and be patient. Cabbage is a cool season vegetable crop that you can grow twice in one year.

Things You Will Need:

Garden tiller
Garden hoe
Garden rake
Shade-Cloth
Lightweight Row Cover
Compost
Fertilizer Aged Manure ( cow or horse manure )

Tips :

 Get the best fertilizer money can buy for ( Free ), go see your local dairy farmer or any farmer near you and they will probably give you all you will need for ( Free ), farmers are happy to get rid of it. Our local dairy farmer will even get out his big tractor and give us 3-big scoops, and we have a big pick-up load of the best natural organic fertilizer money can buy for ( Free ), go see your local farmer, most farmers are so kind and willing to help out anyway they can. Make sure you ask for aged manure, cow or horse works great.



              Well that's it for today, we hope to talk here again tomorrow on Garden The Easy Way, until then, this is Ken & Marilou wishing you all Happy Gardening Always.