It was harvest time last weekend in the Freedom garden. Thanks to the generosity of Heather, the gal who runs Riverside Greenhouse in Thayne, I ended up with 49 cabbage plants; two of which turned out to be cauliflower plants.
The cabbages were lovely in the garden, their giant palmed leaves backlit by the sun. One of the great things about having copious amounts of dirt, is doing something frivolous like planting 49 cabbage plants. I watched the white butterflies flitting around knowing that the cabbage worms were right coming soon. For some reason, the cabbage worms do not like red cabbage.
I did not count how many cabbage heads were harvested for 2020. Not all plants made a head worth picking. But there are plenty, for sure.
The first batch of kraut included zucchini and onions from the garden. I threw in a few caraway seeds as well. Another batch of the same ingredients minus the caraway seeds. The red cabbage was combined with peeled red beets (one only makes the mistake of not peeling the bitter, acrid skins away once!) and ginger. This is a nice combination which I have done with great success already. In two weeks or so, the fermentation will have done its magic and the bright-tasting kraut will be ready to enjoy on a burger or an egg.
Did you know you can use red cabbage juice to check for the pH of your soil? I noticed one of the outside red cabbage leaves was a bit green, leaving me to think that this might mean our soil is a bit more alkaline. Hmmm. And, turns out, red cabbage is very high in vitamin C and vitamin K, which incidentally, is an important vitamin for blood clotting. Who knew??
Here are some garden shots. More chopping to happen soon. Any suggestions for kraut flavors?
Wheel barrel of cabbage heads.
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