Hi everyone! Today I harvested my first handful of wild cabbage, which is the plant that gave birth to many vegetables that are common in our diets. Wild cabbage is the ancestor of all cultivars of Brassica Oleracea, including cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, brussels sprouts, collard greens, and kohlrabi. Basically, the wild cabbage plant was a plant found in the wild and then cultivated by humans to make our vegetables such as broccoli and collard greens. You may be wondering how a plant such as wild cabbage could create a plant such as broccoli? People began to select wild cabbage plants that exhibited traits that they wanted. In the case of broccoli, it was created by selecting wild cabbage plants with larger flower clusters. In the case of kohlrabi, it was created by selecting wild cabbage plants with a thicker stalk. How cool is that??
I got my seeds at the Bioneers seed swap hosted by the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center last October, and was so excited when the first seedling emerged in the greenhouse. In honor of my first harvest today, I thought I would make a post introducing the plant to the Steemit community.
History
- It is native to coastal southern and western Europe
- The first evidence of cultivation was from the Greeks and Romans
- It is still found growing wild on the coastline of Britain and the coastal Mediterranean region
How to Grow
- Sow seeds in the spring
- Plant in an area that gets at least 6 hours of sun per day
- The wild cabbage will grow in most soil types
- Water the plant regularly while it is establishing itself; once it has matured the wild cabbage is drought tolerant
- The wild cabbage is a biennial, producing a flower spike that is 3-7 feet tall in its second year
- It can be grown as a perennial if you keep on cutting off the spike, making sure the plant does not flower
- Continuously harvest the outer leaves as you would harvest kale leaves
Benefits
- "The Lumbee tribe of North Carolina have traditionally used the leaves of Brassica oleracea in medicine that is believed to have cleansing qualities, as well as a mild laxative, anti-inflammatory, and treatment for glaucoma and pneumonia." Source
- They are a good source of vitamin C, vitamin A precursors, vitamin K, folate, vitamin E and fibre
- It contains glucosinolates, "whose breakdown products cause their pungent taste and which have particular anti-cancer properties different from those in other vegetables" Source
Cooking with Wild Cabbage
- The leaves can be a substitute for kale in any recipe
- The outer leaves should be continuously harvested (before they become tough)
- The leaves can be eaten raw, baked, sauteed, boiled, ect
- The leaves and stems can be used for sauerkraut
- The flowering heads can be used in salads
- The seeds can be used to make sprouts
Today I used my wild cabbage leaves in a curry. I sauteed onions and garlic, tossed in curry powder, added the chopped up wild cabbage leaves along with a cup of water, let the leaves cook for 5 minutes, added a can of coconut milk, and then added rice and beans. I topped it off with raisin, lime zest, and black sesame seeds. It was delicious :-)
Seed Giveaway for the Steemit Community
Wild Cabbage seeds are hard to come by. I just tried to find them online and had no luck. I was lucky enough to be gifted the seeds at an exchange, and have around 20 extra that I would love to share with the Steemit community. The first three people who comment with interest in having these seeds, I will mail 7 seeds each to you (USA only, sorry!). I hope these seeds find their way to good homes and I hope that they give back many delicious treats to the hands that will bring them to life :-)
Sources
http://www.ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=19859
http://eol.org/pages/583899/overview
http://www.businessinsider.com/broccoli-kale-brussels-sprouts-vegetables-all-the-same-plant-2015-11
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brassica_oleracea#cite_note-12
http://rawedibleplants.blogspot.com/2012/02/wild-cabbage-brassica-oleracea.html
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268516193_Nutritional_attributes_of_Brassica_vegetables
I love broiled, boiled, roasted a raw cabbage yet I never had heard of wild cabbage! Thank you for teaching me something new!
I eat cabbage several days a week. It contains sulfur among other healthy nutrients. The wild kind is probably even better! And I hear its a blast at parties :P
Lol! I'll have to give that a try c(=
I would love to try this cabbage variety. Very versatile plant.
It's amazing! Do you want me to send you some seeds? If so, just direct message me on steemit.chat @anwenbaumeister with your address :-)
Looks great!
Thanks @brianphobos!
Wow! You cook straight from your garden! I'm jealous. :)
I do! It's so satisfying to grab my greens from outside my window :-)
nice...u deserve resteem and upvote...
Thanks!
u r welcome...
how does it taste? is it more similar to broccoli or cabbage or what else?
I think it tastes a lot like kale. I have a red winter kale right now that it tastes most similar too out of the kale varieties that I'm growing :-)
I am definietly interested in getting some of your wild cabbage seed. I eat a lot of wild field mustard, Brassica rapa. It's the source for turnips, broccoli raab, and Napa cabbage -- and none of them look like each other at all. It would be fun to have the primitive B. olerocea, too!
That's awesome! Is the wild field mustard growing in your garden or do you forage for it in the wild? If you can direct message me your address on steemit.chat I'll send them over :-) My username on chat is anwenbaumeister.
we need some tobaco cofee sees, to grow, i have canabis seeds i can give away
I have some tobacco seeds that I can send you if you want?
and the circle is complete [email protected] or telegram me ackza and we can trade a cool seed and or cutting packages in the mail!
cool site. the food looks good. I'm subscribed.
Thanks @crowe!
Nice that you are giving away the free seeds
Thanks @coinbitgold! It's good to hear from you :-) Do you want any seeds?
What an awesome garden, @anwenbaumeister! Why have you become so interested about Cabbage?
Thanks @lazariko12! I am interested in wild cabbage in particular, since it is the parent plant of all veggies in the brassica oleracea family, including broccoli, cabbage, kale, and brussel sprouts :-)
This is an excellent post! I grow all the cole crops every year and love to eat them. It's interesting to read about their origin. Broccoli and brussel sprouts I mix with salt, pepper, garlic and virgin olive oil and bake until caramelized. Delicious. Checkout my garden posts. I just did one a few days ago on savoy cabbage and will be doing another on broccoli soon. Upvote and following.
Yum! I love your blog, I just read your most recent posts and am now following you. Thanks for sharing amazing knowledge about plants :-)
Thanks for reading and following. Looking forward to sharing information and stories moving forward.
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Something new to try!
you're back?
I haven't seen you for a long time
glad to see you posting again!
I am! I slowed down posting a lot in October when I started my farm because there was so much to do, but a lot of needed structures are now put in place and I have more time to blog :-) Thanks so much for the welcome back :-)
I get you there and am glad you're all through that
Nice post
Thanks @nezaigor!
Very good post my friend, upvote. Here is a post for you to enjoy a little sudden trip. regards..
Https://steemit.com/life/@jorlenbolivar/a-small-journey-from-your-machine-into-the-universe-open-this-post-without-compromise-you-will-not-lose-anything
nice post.. I would love to try some of this
Following you @anwenbaumeister! Come to Costa Rica! You'll be able to find unique fruits and vegetables and herbs for your oils :)