vegetable
Cabbage
Fresh slaw in June, sauerkraut in November. The fermented one is your winter vitamin C.
It loves this climate. A crock of kraut outlives the power grid.
- When to sow
- Start indoors March 1 for a June crop. Direct or transplant July 15 for storage heads.
- Spacing
- 18 in. They need even water or they split.
- Days
- 70–90 from transplant (Early Jersey, Brunswick, January King)
- Harvest
- Firm heads. Cut high; small side heads may follow. Fall crop after a light frost is sweeter.
- Store
- Whole heads in a 32–40°F cellar, roots on, hung or in damp sand. Or shred and salt at 2% by weight for kraut.
- Save seed
- Biennial. Store a few perfect heads, replant in March, isolate from other brassicas when they bolt.
- Companions
- Dill, onion, thyme. Not with strawberry or tomato.
- Pests
- Cabbage worm — row cover from day one, or Bt (kurstaki) if you still have it. Hand-pick green loopers. Slugs at night with a board trap.
- Kraut: 2% salt, pound until brine covers, weight it, 65–70°F for 2–4 weeks. White kahm yeast on top is skimmed, not thrown out. Fuzzy colored mold is a discard.