Colourful Cabbage
Cabbage is a leafy green vegetable and like the cauliflower part of the Brassica family. It’s usually a mass of compact leaves, normally green in colour but in some varieties it is red or purplish. Cabbage is often added to soups or stews. Cabbage becomes sweeter when cooked and makes a good vegetable addition to meats and other dishes.
Grow cabbage
Cabbages like fertile soil in a reasonably sunny and sheltered position. After planting the seedlings, firm around the base and give them a good watering in. For compact varieties, space seedlings approximately 12 inches (30cm) apart. Allow more space for larger headed varieties. Spring cabbages can be spaced 4 inches (10cm) apart in rows 12 inches (30cm) wide.
Nutrition
Cabbage can be an excellent source of vitamins and dietary fibre. Cabbage is low in saturated fat and cholesterol and high in Vitamin C, K, Folate, Potassium and other vitamins and minerals. Nutritionists believe the value and health benefits of cabbage make it ideal for maintaining optimum health and weight loss.
Origins
China and India are the biggest producers of cabbage in the world. The cultivated cabbage derives from a leafy plant called the wild mustard plant, native to the Mediterranean region, where it is common along the coast. Also called sea cabbage and wild cabbage, it was known to the ancient Greeks and Romans.
