The plants in the garden don't exactly look picture perfect, they're a bit holey from worms and grungy from aphid damage. I don't treat pest infestations unless they really get out of hand, an occasional peek at the developing heads inside leads me to believe that they are coming along ok.
And so far I'm right, this head came out pristine, no worms or aphids to be found after peeling off the ugly outer leaves.
The second head came out just fine also. I used half of the first head in a dish of whole wheat fusilli with bacon, mushrooms, sweet onion, and mild pepper flakes. The rest of that head and part of the second head were used to make an Asian flavored slaw to accompany slow roasted pork shoulder with a 5-spice rub. It was all yummy.
So the harvest for the week was 2 lb., 9.7 oz. of Pixie cabbage to bring the harvest total for the year up to 22 lb., .9 oz.
Harvest Monday is hosted by Daphne on her blog Daphne's Dandelions, head on over there to see what other garden bloggers have been harvesting. I'm going to go drool over those southern hemisphere tomatoes and peppers.
Sounds pretty yummy. Nice heads!
ReplyDeleteNice looking cabbage. so many people want to spray something at the first sign of bugs; I'm like you, actually I don't tend to spray anything (except fish & seaweed); I"d rather figure out why we're having the problem and go from there. For instance if the cukes get too dry they will have aphids no matter what you do. When the weather turns hot the peas will be covered with them; just tells me it's time to rip them out and plant the beans ;-)
ReplyDeleteI find that when I keep the garden friendly for the good bugs that they usually get the bad bugs under control so I wait to see how that battle pans out before I treat or tear out. But you're right, no sense fighting certain infestations at times.
DeleteThose dishes you used the cabbage in sound great. I'm about to plant cabbages and if they turn out as nice as those I'll be pleased.
ReplyDeleteYou already have over 22 pounds of harvest and we are still waiting for the soil to warm up.
ReplyDeleteOne of the joys of gardening in zone 9b, but on the other hand there's no rest for weary gardeners in the winter.
DeleteI am just like you and don't worry about the bugs too much if they are staying confined to the outer wrapper leaves - which is usually the case. My overwintered cabbage was looking so ragged from slug chomping that I finally did do a triming up of the worst of it about a week ago They look much better but are kind of naked looking at the moment as a result. LOL!
ReplyDeleteNice cabbage, good to know the damage is confined to the outer leaves.
ReplyDeletelots of cabbage! do you have any recipes to share?
ReplyDeleteThe Asian flavored slaw that I mentioned in the post is Steve Raichlen's "Shogun Slaw" from his book Barbeque Bibile. If you google "Shogun Slaw" you'll find the recipe. The pasta was something that I made up on the fly and I don't really remember the details of how I put it together. :/ Last night I made a soup by simmering a few cups of cut up cabbage in a quart of chicken stock and 2 cups cooked tomato puree, some chopped fresh rosemary, and I added a couple of cups of roasted cauliflower florets and roasted slivered onions. Served with a drizzle of my best olive oil. Quick, simple and delicious.
DeleteI usually let aphids have their way. I usually get enough of the good bugs to show up and keep them under control. Occasionally I'll wash them off the leaves. I only did it with one plant last year. The aphids were killing my plum tree. That baby is costly to replace.
ReplyDeleteMaybe not very exciting, but that's how it is at this time of year, and those cabbages look lovely!
ReplyDeleteThose outer leaves do protect a lot don't they and make a great feed for chooks. Asian slaw sounds good,what other ingredients did you put in with the cabbage?
ReplyDeleteAndrea, as I mentioned above, you can find the slaw recipe by googling "Shogun Slaw", it's a Steve Raichlen recipe. The dressing has wasabi powder, grated ginger, garlic, rice vinegar, sugar, sesame oil. And other than cabbage (I used the regular green cabbage instead of napa cabbage, either one is good), the salad has grated carrots, scallions, snow peas (I substituted snap peas), red pepper (I substituted some sweet pickled peppers), and black sesame seeds.
DeleteGreat harvest! I wish I could have harvested 22 pounds already, but that can't happen here in Ohio very easily. :)
ReplyDeleteLynn