March Pick of the Month

Cabbage

The Pick of the Month for March is cabbage. And how timely, since it is the month of St. Patrick's Day and we all know that Corned Beef and Cabbage is a fabulous way to celebrate that holiday, along with anything and everything green. Have you noticed all the green that pops up in March? Not only in the supermarket, but in the yard, on people's clothes...it's Spring! Well nearly.

So I have the great cabbage mystery for you. This incident took place this summer, when all water to the school was turned off and an industrious, dedicated group of garden tenders kept our lovely plants alive with lots and lots of buckets. The construction workers were gracious and helpful. But on to the story of the...

Disappearing Cabbage

This is a little cabbage plant that someone put in our garden this last Spring. Cute, isn't it? Well they get plenty big, let me tell you. And you know what loves cabbage? Fat little green cabbage worms. You will see how much they love them in the next picture. Pay attention to all the little holes in the leaves. The hungry caterpillar!

So, the cabbage plant got huge. And it had a really round, perfect looking head of cabbage on it. Until...someone cut it off!

Oh no! Who did this? It happened the week I was on water duty. One day it was there, the next it was gone. Now, I did tell the construction workers to help themselves to peas and lettuce, but the one, lone, lovely head of purple cabbage? 

Little did I know that cabbage are incredibly resilient plants. Just because the one, beautiful head of cabbage was gone did not mean the plant was done. Oh no. It sprouted several little baby cabbages as you can see in this picture. Cute, huh? Kind of like a cabbage bouquet! I bet those leaves would have been tender and delicious. But it was too cute to cut so I just took a picture.

The mystery remains unsolved. Somewhere, someone, enjoyed a lot of coleslaw, or braised cabbage, or cabbage rolls, or...

So, this month, enjoy some cabbage. Try some sauerkraut. Or whip up an Asian slaw with sesame oil, peanuts and cilantro. Toss it in your salad for some added crunch. Or do like the Irish do and make colcannon--mashed potatoes and cabbage. Delicious with lots of butter and salt. That's how my mom makes it and she's Irish and she knows. Of course, she puts lots of butter and salt in a lot of things. Experiment! Look for local cabbage at a farm stand, or at Roth's.

And come have lunch at the next 

Farm to School lunch.

Friday, March 16th