For being the middle of October, I’d say things are moving along quite nicely in our backyard garden. The pumpkins have been harvested, the tomatoes pulled, and the zucchini and cucumbers are long gone {well, actually there are still 2 cucumbers growing in the greenhouse right now}.
So even though the raised garden beds may look a little sparse right now, there are still a lot of vegetables growing.
Pink Banana Squash, Mystery Melon, and Acorn Squash.
Rainbow Swiss Chard {of course}.
Purple Cabbage. Does anyone have any good recipes for this? I have no idea what I was thinking when I planted this, but we’ll have about 12 heads to harvest in a few weeks, and I have no idea what to do with red cabbage. Help!
Brussels sprouts. Maybe they’ll be ready by Christmas? How do you know when to pick Brussels sprouts anyway? This is my first year growing them.
French Breakfast radish. These need to be harvested asap!
Spaghetti squash.
Alert the media! We have broccoli!!!! The Girl and the Handsome Husband will be thrilled when I tell them.
More freakin’ kale. Hey, if it helps me to reach my goal of 2,000 pounds of backyard produce by the end of the year, then I’ll grow it. But it doesn’t mean I have to like it.
Alright, I check in later, right now I’ve got some weeds to pull.
Peace Out Girl Scouts,
♥ Mavis
Fiskars 9404 Kangaroo 10-Gallon Gardening Container
Heather says
I cut thin strips of cabbage to put in stir fry. Also, anything you use green cabbage you can use purple cabbage. Stuffed cabbage, cabbage soup. You could cut it up in small pieces and add to a soup or strips like “noodles”. It adds great color to stir fry, I just picked one from my garden last night and made it, delicious!
Mavis says
Ahhh. I like this idea! Thanks Heather.
Leanna says
YUM! Purple cabbage um, my mom make a good one to go with our Sauerbraten. I will have to get the recipe from her.
Kimberly R says
Where did you get that compostable tin container?! I want one.
Mavis says
Edinburgh Botanical Gardens, Scotland. Depening on how bag you wanted one I bet you could call and ask them if they’d ship it to you.
Kimberly R says
Sadly they do not have it avail on their site. I’ll do some hunting around for one, using this tin pail is just not cutting it here.
Nichole says
here ya go: http://www.burgonandball.com/ http://gardeningmags.net-genie.co.uk/garden-products/cleaningclearingandcomposting/185294/compost_tin.html
Jessica says
MMMM! My Gram made Danish Purple Cabbage… This is the closest to a recipe I can find!
http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/sweet_and_sour_red_cabbage/
olemike says
Great pics. Love your blog!
nancypantsgirl says
Make this! http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/03/my_most_favorite_salad_ever_ever_ever_ever/
SO yummy!
Carrie says
I also make garbage soup – any thing and everything. I also saw on pinterst that they roasted it in the oven and that looked good (it was green cabage)
bonnie fuentevilla says
Mavis,
Your Broc and bruss look aphid free. Any problems with them this year ? Are you organic ?
Nichole says
yeah, I noticed that too. (pest free life) in my experience having raised beds with good soil I had almost ZERO pest problems. this year I have a p patch and everything’s in the ground and I’ve had almost every pest/disease you could imagine. (I figured this out because I accidentally left a kale start in my garden and it rooted into the ground, but it has almost zero pest problems, but everything planted “in” the ground has pest problems.) i’d say it’s probably the raised beds and shipped in soil.
Elizabeth F says
Wow, 12 heads of red cabbage. I could have bartered with you. I don’t grow it so I get at farmer’s market and I bought 12 pounds to make my pickled red cabbage. Now you could do that , IF, you like pickled red cabbage.
I also make borscht. Plus every green salad we eat and every cole slaw has shredded red cabbage in it. I use almost as much red as green. I don’t usually add to soups as tends to color food bluish when cooked. May be OK for the crowd that likes blue jello etc, but I don’t.
Just like green cabbage it keeps a long time. Once I cut the head I keep in vegetable crisper drawer wrapped in a green bag.
Annette says
There’s an Armenian place near my house that has what it calls “Cabbage Salad” and describes as “sliced red and green cabbage, fresh mint, lemon juice, garlic and olive oil.” It’s really fresh and delicious – I look forward to trying to replicate it…
http://www.zankouchicken.com/pdf/ZAN-Family-2012.pdf (pic near bottom right of second page)
Mavis says
Thanks Annette. I’ll take a look, I need lot’s of ideas. 🙂
Ayrie Joyce says
Try making Asian Slaw – It has a peanut dressing and it’s delicious. The link is on my blog, about half way down this post http://iwouldstillplantmyappletree.blogspot.com/2012/10/a-colorful-celebration-of-fall.html
Mavis says
Thanks!
Elena says
I make an Asian chicken salad:
Shredded red cabbage
shredded carrots
diced green onions
mandarin oranges
toasted almonds
shredded chicken
Toss with vinegarette: equal parts sesame oil, soy sauce, rice vinegar
Jesse says
You can drill a hole through the head of cabbage, hang it by a string from a branch about 12″ higher than your chickens and watch them jump for it all day!
That is actually recommended when introducing a new bird to the flock because it keeps them all distracted.
Was that what you had in mind for using your cabbage?
Madam Chow says
Make sauerkraut! It’s easy, and I’ll bet the Girl Who Thinks She’s a Bird would find it fascinating. Then, you could make reubens for the whole family in about weeks!
Katie P. says
I made a batch of this salad and ate it for lunch during the week. It was really fresh and tasty .
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/southwestern_corn_black_bean_salad.html
Mavis says
I’m totally making that! Thanks Katie.
Sakura says
We use shredded cabbage for our asian salad when I make pot stickers. Also the Ball Blue Book as a Freezer Slaw recipe in it, I’ve never tried it but it’s there. It also dehydrates and rehydrates well for stir frys.
Ayrie Joyce says
The freezer slaw recipe is a good one, but I cut back on the sugar.
Tra says
I LOVE a Cuisine At Home recipe for Pork Chops with Red Cabbage and Apple Sauce Dumplings. It uses a whole small head of red cabbage and it’s a one pot meal too. I found a link on this blog:
http://kyleecooks.blogspot.com/2011/01/pork-chops-braised-cabbage-with-apple.html
Like Kylee, I leave out the fennel and dried cherries. I could eat the cabbage and dumplings every week!
Kylee says
I need to make this again – I remember it being sooooo good!!!!
Kristine says
Do you barter in the area? Im in WA state as well and would totally barter for your cabbage. Let me know!
Karina says
Here is what you can do with your kale! I saw this on apartment therapy today and totally thought of you!
http://www.thekitchn.com/nutritional-add-in-homemade-spinach-powder-178999
genius!
CathyB says
Mavis – I vote that when you hit the 2000 lb mark that you celebrate by going outside and ripping out all your kale and feeding it to the chickens!
Mavis says
Oh you can count on it!!!
jeff the fezz says
Make sauerkraut! made 17 gallons this yr and it is awesome! cant wait to come home fer lunch, kraut and brauts!
Susie says
Can you freeze sauerkraut? Or do you even NEED to, since it’s pickled? I’d preserve it somehow & use it throughout the winter months for my fave meal of pork roast in sauerkraut, with Bisquick dumplings on top, served with mashed potatoes. Pennsylvania Dutch comfort food.
And I’ve made Reuben casseroles – sort of Reuben sandwiches in a layered casserole form: rye bread, corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, Thousand Island dressing, another layer of rye bread, bake. I’d bet this would be delicious just all torn up & mixed together & baked, instead of layers. Yum! Now I’m hungry…
Cora says
Hi Mavis…I, too, make a red cabbage dish very similar to Sheryl Johnstons. Delicious! As far as the Brussels sprouts, they are best left to harvest after the first frost, as it improves the flavor tremendously.
Mavis says
Thanks. Now that you mention it, I remember someone saying they are best harvested after the first frost. Thank you for the reminder. 🙂
Deborra Sanders says
We eat red cabbage as slaw every week. It is one of our favorite treats. To make it, slice little strips of red cabbage. Add thinly sliced carrots and apples. Add caraway seeds, toasted sesame oil, rice vinegar and apple cider vinegar, salt. Keep tasting and keep adjusting until you like the taste. Other things to add: sunflower seeds, raisins, oranges slices. If you don’t have sesame oil, use another tasty oil, same thing for the vinegars. The sunflower seeds taste best added when you eat the slaw, because they stay crispier that way.
bonnie fuentevilla says
Deborra Sanders,
That sounds so delicious and, like you mentioned, easy to change up with different nuts or seeds or fruit. Nom, nom, nom.
Angie Smith says
The book “Nourishing Traditions” has a recipe for Mexican Sauerkraut made the traditional fermented way (adds probiotics, increases vitamin C content, etc.). We made some this year using half purple & half green cabbage, and now the whole batch is fuschia – it’s so pretty! It is delicious, too. This year, we only grew 10 cabbages, but I want to grow LOTS next year.
Tali says
1. (just made this tonight) thinly slice red cabbage and fresh onion, 1/2 cherry tomatoes, toss with juice from 1 lime and sprinkle olive oil, salt, and pepper….my hubby loved it! if you have feta it will be a great addition just before you serve.
2. thinly slice and toss with lemon juice, sprinkle heavily with Gorgonzola cheese.
Mavis says
Thanks Tali. 🙂