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Post by desertwoman on Jul 26, 2024 18:15:52 GMT -5
I planted my collards starts in April (seeds from Baker Creek). First time growing collards so didn't know quite what to expect. When they were young and tender looking I started picking some leaves for dinners and was disappointed after a couple of tries. Tough leaves, hard to chew. So I gave up. But left the plants in since they were attractive to look at and so little had been doing well at that point. At least there were 2 large plants thriving and looking vibrant. Have been ignoring them. Until today. I looked more closely and could see there was something going on under all those leaves. Looks like 2 heads of cabbage on the two plants. Large heads! My question is: having never grown cabbage, how do I know when they are ready to harvest??! ![](https://i.ibb.co/p13zc2p/IMG-1588.jpg) ![](https://i.ibb.co/hmmvLMQ/IMG-1589.jpg)
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Post by pepperhead212 on Jul 26, 2024 18:49:51 GMT -5
That looks more like cabbage, to me, but I've only grown collards twice, and both varieties bolted - made no sense to me, since it's grown down south! But I didn't think it was going to form a head. And all the greens I grow I harvest (or at least start harvesting) in about a month or month and a half, cutting the outer leaves, like with leaf lettuce, and it keeps growing. If it grew for that long I can see why it got tough...maybe that's why it is usually cooked so long down south?
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Post by binnylou on Jul 26, 2024 20:59:25 GMT -5
desertwoman, do you like egg rolls? Might be time to fill the freezer.
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Post by Mumsey on Jul 27, 2024 5:07:33 GMT -5
desertwoman, You can harvest cabbage pretty much at any size. Just watch during heat spells, sometimes the heads will crack. Then you will want to harvest. If you cut out the main head and leave the rest of the plant, little babies will grow from the base that remains. Kinda cute.
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Post by breezygardener on Jul 27, 2024 12:40:03 GMT -5
desertwoman, You can harvest cabbage pretty much at any size. Just watch during heat spells, sometimes the heads will crack. Then you will want to harvest. If you cut out the main head and leave the rest of the plant, little babies will grow from the base that remains. Kinda cute. Ditto to all of this.
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Post by desertwoman on Jul 27, 2024 13:44:32 GMT -5
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Post by desertwoman on Jul 27, 2024 13:48:11 GMT -5
Another newbie cabbage grower question: how long would those large heads store? I don't have a basement or root cellar so it would probably be in the fridge? It would be fun to use them for my annual Indian Feast in early September.
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Post by breezygardener on Jul 27, 2024 14:04:18 GMT -5
I don't have a basement or root cellar so it would probably be in the fridge? It would be fun to use them for my annual Indian Feast in early September. You just might easily get away with that! I bought a supermarket cabbage for 3/17 St. Pat's day & only used half of it. The remaining half was still perfectly fresh, crisp, & usable for a stir-fry in early June.
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Post by Mumsey on Jul 27, 2024 18:30:08 GMT -5
Yes. Ok to keep in fridge!
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Post by breezygardener on Jul 27, 2024 22:06:23 GMT -5
Yup - I just had my half cabbage stored in an open plastic bag in the fridge.
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Post by desertwoman on Jul 27, 2024 22:33:02 GMT -5
Thanks ladies. I will do that.
(I buy red cabbage for our day to day meals and go through a head fairly quickly so have never stored cabbage for any length of time)
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Post by desertwoman on Aug 6, 2024 23:03:55 GMT -5
Another cabbage question: can cabbages get too big? Can they be left too long (and lose flavor, tenderness, etc)?
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Post by breezygardener on Aug 7, 2024 14:05:32 GMT -5
Another cabbage question: can cabbages get too big? Can they be left too long (and lose flavor, tenderness, etc)? I don't know about flavor/tenderness, but if you let them get too large they can split & get "buggy".
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Post by desertwoman on Aug 7, 2024 14:40:07 GMT -5
OK thanks breezygardener , I cut them today. One weighed in at 4.51 pounds and the other at 4,74. No cracks but a couple of earwigs were within the loose leaves. Heads feel firm. My first cabbage harvest ever- and all because of the mislabeled seed pack!
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