Cabbage: A Head of Its Time
by Emily Skelton

Fall is the time to be harvesting cabbage in your home garden. Read on and you will discover cabbage's unique cultivation requirements, its rich health benefits, some interesting history, a few disease and pest challenges, and finally, a journey to Russia where cabbage historically is one of the country's most important foods. Learn from Arina Pitman, Managing Director of Ecoversity (a unique school that offers educational programs in all aspects of sustainability, www.ecoversity.org) how to make two delicious recipes (fermented cabbage and cabbage rolls) handed down by her father and his father before him.

Cabbage is classified as Brassica oleracea (Capitata Group). Other variations of this same plant (genus Brassica and species oleracea) are kohlrabi, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, and kale. Seeds of Change offers three open-pollinated heirloom varieties of cabbage: Early Jersey Wakefield, January King, and Red Drumhead. Early Jersey Wakefield has a two–four pound head that is cone shaped, which makes it particularly suited for small gardens. Originally introduced from England, it was perfected in the 1860s by Peter Henderson, a German truck gardener in New Jersey. This crisp, early maturing variety is resistant to cabbage yellows disease. January King has a four–six pound head and is a venerable late-Victorian English variety that tolerates extreme cold yet also grows well in the summer months. Dense, green, round to slightly flattened heads have attractive, semi-savoyed, purple-tinged wrapper leaves. Red Drumhead is a hardy variety from the 1860s with three–five pound heads. It stores well and is remarkably sweet. While tasty raw, it is renowned for cooking and pickling, holding its flavor and deep purplish red color. It also adapts well to heat and has extremely firm heads.

Cabbage has been used as a food crop for more than 3,000 years. However, in the early time of its cultivation it was probably utilized more for medicinal purposes. Ancient Greek and Roman civilizations considered cabbage a general panacea capable of treating a wide array of health conditions. We can trace cabbage back to northwestern Europe, in particular, from the coastal region of western France to Holland and including the southern coast of England. The Romans or Celts may have introduced cabbage from the coastal regions of the Mediterranean Sea. Fermented cabbage in the form of sauerkraut was considered an essential in the medieval diet. Some historians believe that fermented cabbage was brought to Europe by the Tartars and developed into sauerkraut by the Celts who were cultivating the headed cabbages by around 200 B.C.

Cabbage, as you can see in the table below, has a very high vitamin C content. Vitamin C is a well-known antioxidant that helps cells protect themselves from harmful free radicals. Cabbage also contains a good amount of fiber, which can help lower cholesterol; the red cabbages having more fiber than the green. In its raw form, cabbage also contains iron, calcium, and potassium. Lengthy cooking tends to lower the nutritional value considerably, hence the incredible nutrients available in fermented cabbage.

Chart courtesy of www.whfoods.com

A recent study published by the journal Cancer Research confirmed that women who eat more vegetables from the Brassica family have a much lower risk of breast cancer. In China, where Chinese cabbage is consumed daily, women's urinary levels of isothiocyanates (a beneficial compound found in Brassica vegetables) are very high. The women in this study with the highest urinary isothiocyanates had a 45% lower risk of developing breast cancer compared with the women with the lowest levels of isothiocyanates. Cabbage is also associated with a lower risk of cancer of the lung, stomach and colon.

Raw cabbage juice is also used to treat peptic ulcers. In one study, the patients received close to one quart of fresh cabbage juice over the course of the day, for ten days, and the average time for healing occurred within the ten days. It is likely that the high content of glutamine (an amino acid that is used as a fuel by cells in the stomach and small intestine) in cabbage juice helps the stomach lining repair itself.

Cabbage is an amazing and versatile vegetable. It is not only good tasting, but it has many medicinal properties as well, from boosting our immune system to helping us heal from ulcers. Seeds of Change is proud to offer three of the best heirloom varieties available. These varieties may be very similar to the ones used long ago by the Celts or the Tartars on the steppes of Russia. Try these original Russian recipes provided by Arina Pitman and let us know how you like them.

Arina's Fermented Cabbage or Sauerkraut (Kvashenaja Kapusta in Russian) Arina was born in the city of Minsk, Belarus where she watched her grandparents and her parents prepare this dish every fall. She came to the U.S. in 1996 to marry the love of her life, Scott Pitman, a Permaculture teacher. Ingredients 25–30 lbs. cabbage (late types best, use dense heads) 10–14 lbs. carrots 160 grams (approximately 1 cup) of coarse ground noniodized salt (can be sea salt) Use enameled cookware or a porcelain crock Takes 3–4 days to prepare, making approximately 10 quarts. It will keep all winter at 40°F in refrigerator. Use glass jars to store. Do not wash the cabbage. Wipe the dirt off with a damp cloth. Remove the first two layers of green leaves and use for stuffed cabbage, or feed it to your bunnies. Don't worry about using too many carrots because they help reduce the sharpness of the cabbage taste. Coarse salt scratches the cabbage, allowing more juices to be extracted, so purchase the coarsest (most unrefined) salt you can find. Coarsely grate the carrots by hand or in a food processor. Set aside. Chop cabbage or use a food processor with a slicing blade. The cabbage pieces will be long and thin like in coleslaw. Before filling your pot with the ingredients, plan on leaving enough space at the top of the container (about 2 inches) to place a weight on top. Don't fill too full. You may wish to place your pot inside another in case juices spill out. With your hands mix 2–4 handfuls of cabbage with 3–4 handfuls of carrots. Add a large pinch of salt to coat the ingredients. The mixture should begin to get juicy. Push the mixture into the bottom of the pot, pushing it down with your thumbs until it is tightly packed. Leave no air. Repeat layer after layer. As you get close to the top the whole mixture should be very juicy, almost flooding. (Remember to leave a 2-inch space at the top for your weight.) Cover with a plate and place a 5 lb. weight or a large rock on top. Put your pot in a covered porch or mudroom that is neither too warm or too cold. It will begin to ferment and get stinky so don't put it in your guest room. Using a long wooden spoon that reaches all the way to the bottom of the pot, punch holes all the way to the bottom every 2–3 inches, which releases gas bubbles. Do not stir. After 3 days start tasting it for doneness. When done it will seem slightly cooked, but still crunchy, with a pleasant yellow-green color and a blush of pink from the carrots. It will stop bubbling. It may be 3 days or it may be 4 or 5 days. As Arina says, "When it's done, it's done. It will taste delicious." When it is done place it in glass jars in a cool place, such as a north-facing porch, or a refrigerator, but do not allow it to freeze. Tip: If the inside of your enameled pot has a chip that is rusty, wash and dry thoroughly, then cover the spot with 1–2 layers of dry, clean cabbage leaves. This will prevent the rust from spoiling the whole batch.

Try Fermented Cabbage with the following:

• Mashed potatoes: Arina suggests for a full experience to add sunflower oil to the cabbage (not olive oil—"it's a disaster," she says.
• Vegetable soups: Add it in the last 5 minutes of cooking before serving to retain vitamin potency.
• With apples: Arina's grandfather used to add apples to the cabbage. Also good: cumin seed, garlic, sliced radish, mustard seed and ginger.
• Omelets: Arina adds the cabbage to her omelets for breakfast. However, her husband "has a heart attack" when he sees her do this because "it's offensive to his American palate."