Cabbage may not be the most glamorous vegetable around, but it is nutritious and versatile. Cabbage adds taste and texture to stir fries and soups, and it’s good as a vegetable on its own either braised, or steamed tender-crunchy and served with a tomato, cream, or cheese sauce. Then there’s the cabbage staple — coleslaw.
With the cabbages doing so well in this year’s garden, I expanded its repertoire of uses to roasting, which produces a quick and easy, flavourful vegetable dish. I simply place cabbage chunks in an oiled pan, drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt and herbs. I favour caraway seeds, but fennel, basil, dill and thyme are pleasant seasonings for cabbage as well. Roast at 325 to 350 F until the cabbage is tender and has begun to turn crisp along the edges.
My preferred coleslaw dressing is equally simple: 1/4 cup each maple syrup and fresh lemon juice added to 1 1/2 cups mayonnaise along with freshly grated nutmeg. This dresses around six cups of grated cabbage. I like grated carrot, currants or raisins, and salted cashews as well in coleslaw.
In recent years, I’ve become enchanted with the type of cabbage with pointed heads. Some call them “sweetheart” cabbages, a term perhaps meant to capture their endearing virtues. They are easy to grow, tender and crunchy, mild and sweet. A popular early variety of this type is Caraflex. Early Jersey Wakefield is an heirloom (1840) that can be over-wintered. Kalibos is a big, gorgeous pointed cabbage with reddish-purple leaves and a sweet, fresh flavour. All are listed in the West Coast Seeds (WCS) catalogue.
A round-headed cabbage that has made an impressive splash in the garden and kitchen this year is a very early “lettuce cabbage” called Tiara (WCS, William Dam Seeds). Sometimes called “lettage,” cabbages like Tiara are crisp, tender and juicy — perfect for coleslaw. They grow easily in summer’s heat and can be used like lettuce.
No food waste. Early in the month I suggested offering extra fruits and vegetables during this bountiful summer to local food banks and community kitchens, or to contact LifeCycles, which has a food harvesting and sharing program.
Later in the month I received a note from Judy telling me about a similar mid-Island group. The Gleaning Program in Nanaimo gathers together volunteers who, like Judy, harvest home garden produce in Nanaimo and the Qualicum-Parksville area.
“No waste is the goal.” Picked fruits and vegetables go to the homeowners (up to one-third of the produce) who want it, and to the volunteer pickers, neighbours, friends, family, and any community organization that will use it.
This is a special help for homeowners who are unable to pick fruit from trees on their property. The volunteers clean up and compost whatever is not usable.
To look into this valuable community service contact Lee at 250-816-4769 or email [email protected].
GARDEN EVENTS
VHS meeting. The Victoria Horticultural Society meets Tuesday, Sept. 1, at 7:30 p.m. in the Garth Homer Centre, 813 Darwin Ave. Joan Gibb, Dominion Brook Park historian and field director, will speak about the history, collection of rare plants, and restoration of this 103-year-old, 11-acre botanical jewel of the Peninsula. The pre-meeting workshop at 6:30 will feature Sheila Mitchell of the Victoria Chrysanthemum Society, who will present her video, a Year in the Chrysanthemum Garden — an overview of the chrysanthemum growing year. vichortsociety.org.
Food garden tour. A self-guided Urban Food-Garden Tour on Saturday, Sept. 12, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., will bring visitors into 14 inspiring home food gardens in back yards, front yards, allotments and boulevards, where they can speak with home gardeners and expert volunteers about year-round food production. The gardens are in Victoria, Saanich, Oak Bay and Esquimalt. The event is a fundraiser for local and global sustainable food production that includes a community garden in South Africa. Tickets cost $15 and are available at GardenWorks, brownpapertickets.com, Haliburton Farm stand at Moss St. Market, Hudson Public Market, Oaklands Market, by email at [email protected], or at the gardens on the day of the event. Their addresses can be found at vicurbanfoodgardens.wix.com/tour.
