our maine home – zone 5b
I dearly love a nice big red cabbage. For some reason, this year my cabbage seedlings did great. I can’t believe it. I have a cluster of them and they are all big and round. Very exciting. There is very little insect damage, which may be a concern really, but makes them especially beautiful.
It feels a little early to plant these but they are outgrowing their pots and I need them in the ground. So here are my little vigorous Speedia brussels sprouts seedlings and a few Mammoth red cabbage. I never leave enough space between my seedlings. I think I like the idea of them growing companionably in a cluster. And I’m usually short on space in the garden. I know they would most likely do better with an adequate amount of space. It’s something I’m working on as a gardener.
On the left, half a bed of brussels sprouts and cabbage under row cover. In the center, peas and fava beans. On the right, a row of broccoli seedlings under row cover. Eventually, the garden will look greener.
An exciting day at Cross Road Gardens. It really felt like spring, for the first time, I think. A burst of gardening energy, although I only really worked for a few hours.
Time to harvest that red cabbage that’s still growing out in the garden.
I think it weighed about four pounds? Didn’t make a note of the weight and forgot, of course.
Beautiful red coloration on the outer leaves.
And the interior was just packed with growth and very juicy. Perfect!
Shredded it all up in the food processor and massaged in salt. Now to ferment. I’ve never made sauerkraut with red cabbage before so we’ll see how we like it.
I harvested this massive Farao cabbage. Six pounds! A bit overdone as it was splitting and had some rotten leaves at the base.
We then place the kraut in a well-cleaned and sanitized crock. A little sauerkraut juice from the previous batch is added as a starter. A few cabbage leaves and weights hold the shreds under the brine for anaerobic fermentation. Lastly the lid is put on and a little water is poured in to the moat.
Bubbles started coming up though the moat within a few hours. It’s a very companionable sound.
Updated to show results after about a week of fermentation:
I harvested a cabbage on July 20. Pretty early! This is from a seedling bought from Chuck, variety “Farao.”
We shred cabbage in the food processor using the 2mm blade. Then weigh in grams, calculating salt as 2 percent of that weight.
Massage in salt, let sit, then load into crock for fermenting. This cabbage will make one quart jar of kraut.