This has been a big gardening year for me, in more ways than one. I'm building raised beds, and I'm expanding the size of the garden (not as quickly as I was hoping, though).
Hubby loves cabbage. He'd rather have a cabbage salad than one made of lettuce. Steamed cabbage, cole slaw and stuffed cabbage rolls are comfort foods from his childhood. And sauerkraut, although he's only had that from a can. (Making it myself is on my grand list of goals.)
Growing cabbage
Cabbage is easy to grow from seed, but in early spring a nine-pack of cabbage plants came home with me. I planted them in a four-foot by three-foot area of one of my raised beds.
I surrounded each plant with a ring of crushed eggshells to deter slugs and cutworms.
My plants were huge and gorgeous. But I wondered when they would start forming "heads" and if I was supposed to do something to make that happen.
I did some research but didn't find anything addressing this question specifically... but I also didn't find directions to "do something," so I didn't.
Eventually I learned that all I needed was patience; the plants began forming heads on their own when it was time.
Organic remedy for cabbage worms
One morning my beautiful cabbages had holes in the leaves. I knew that meant the dreaded cabbage worms had arrived. I picked off half a dozen little green caterpillars and dropped them into a jug of compost tea because that's what was convenient.
My flock of chickens share the garden waste with my compost pile. They were thrilled to get the tough outer leaves of holey cabbage and if there were any little green worms on them, the hens slurped them down like candy.
Related Posts: what to do with nine heads of cabbage!
Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
Freezing and Dehydrating Cabbage
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Thank you for this guide, it gives me a little more confidence that I might actually succeed in growing leafy vegetable like cabbage. In the past I've always been put off by the prospect of fighting against pests, but your natural remedy sounds like a great solution.
ReplyDeleteDon't be afraid to try, Catherine. And if you can - this is what I was planning to do but didn't get it done early enough - cover the cabbage plants completely with screen or netting to keep the butterflies from laying their eggs at all. No cabbage worms!
DeleteI enjoy reading your garden blogs very much. I have one way of getting rid of cabbage worms that has been handed down for many generations in my family and one I use still today. I grow 80-100 heads of cabbage for my sauerkraut and a food pantry. My Dad's Great-grandmother always took the bottom leaf off the cabbage plant and laid it on top of the cabbage filled with wood ashes that she saved from her wood stove (you can burn a pile of wood sticks from trees by your garden if you don't have a wood stove) the night before. Early next morning she would go out and gather the leaves as they were filled with cabbage worms and she would burn the worms and leaves. I still do this and never have problems with them. She said that the stuff in the ashes that helped make he lye soap kept pests away and they always mixed the ashes from their wood stove throughout their garden to keep all other
ReplyDeletepests away.
What a great tip, Gayla. Thank you so much for sharing it!
DeleteI wish cabbage grew well down here, but it's just too darn hot! I hate those cutworms!
ReplyDeleteUgh, heat is a problem here too in the deep of summer. I hope you can figure something out, Nila.
DeleteNot sure where you are, Nila, but we're in Central Florida. Cabbage grows well in the south during the fall and winter seasons. I have gotten used to switching up my crops to accommodate the heat.
Deletethanks so much for this information, I hope my cabbage work better with these tips! Thanks for adding this to From The Farm, this is one of this week's favorites!
ReplyDeleteGood luck, Heather, I hope it helps!
DeleteThank you for sharing your recipe for cabbage worm spray. I'll have to pin that one for future use. So glad you are having success with a new crop. Very exciting!
ReplyDeleteThank you for stopping by The Maple Hill Hop!
Daisy, I'm enjoying this year of stretching my gardening knowledge. Thank you for your encouragement, always!
DeleteI have holes too and preparing to use some sort of flour/cayanne pepper mixture by Jerry Baker. I have only 1 cabbage, brought home from a church dinner. I will try yours once I find out where I get fish oil
ReplyDeleteIn the health and beauty section. Fish oil, cod liver oil, krill oil, etc.
DeleteGreat success story! I loved reading this. I need gardening help so I appreciate it. I wonder if your wonder spray will get rid of something eating an ornamental sweet potato vine. Thanks for sharing this. I came over from The Art Of Homemaking. I hope you'll come over and visit me. My garden is on my apartment balcony. I happy to have tomatoes! My zuchinni is struggling! Come over and see me
ReplyDeletehttp://www.myjourneyback-thejourneyback.blogspot.com
Thank you for visiting - I hope that garlic spray will help your sweet potato vine.
DeleteI love reading about organic methods of pest control, Kathi. I've always hesitated to grow cabbage because of the bugs so I really enjoyed this post. Pinned to a group board. Thank you for sharing with us at the Hearth and Soul Hop.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, April! The best method of all is to cover the plants with mesh while they are small, to keep the butterflies from laying their eggs in the first place. That's what I'm doing next year!
DeleteThank you for the advice, Kathi! Also, just wanted to let you know that I'm featuring this post at the Hearth and Soul Hop this week. Thank you again for sharing it.
DeleteThank you for featuring the post on this week's hop, April!
DeleteI have grown cabbage a few times but hate fighting the worms. I will try your solution. (Maybe the squirrels will let me keep some.)
ReplyDeleteI hope it works for you too, Kim.
DeleteI love cabbage! The worms are the biggest problem I face, too. I'll have to try your organic remedy. Where do you get your fish oil? I've got some started in the garden. I hope to have some to harvest this year.
ReplyDeleteI bought the fish oil at the grocery store in the vitamin aisle (vitamin A, B12, C, etc). I suppose it's replaced the cod liver oil of my youth. There are capsules and the liquid.
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