Gardening
Bold, Beautiful, and Healthful Cabbage
When harvesting cabbage, use a sharp knife, remove just the cabbage head, and leave the lower leaves and roots intact. Soon new cabbage heads will form.
Photo credit: Melinda Myers, LLC
Cleanse the toxins out of your body with the help of fresh vegetables. Cabbage, broccoli, and brussels sprouts are a few of nature’s detoxifiers.
You can add variety to your garden and diet by including green, red or Savoy cabbage. It’s fun and easy to grow in the garden or a container and can be used in a variety of healthful dishes.
There is still time to add cabbage to your garden. Cabbage grows best in cooler temperatures. Those in the northern half of the country can plant seeds directly in the garden in early July for a fall harvest. Those in hotter regions should wait another month. Simply check the number of days from seed to harvest and count backwards from the average first fall frost. That will be the time to plant. Those in the far south should plant seeds or transplants in fall or early winter for a winter harvest.
Be sure to allow enough room for the plants to grow to mature size. Space plants at least 12 inches apart in the garden and grow in a sunny to lightly shaded location.
Protect cabbage plantings from pests with floating row covers. Made of polypropylene spun material, the covers allow air, light, and water through while preventing cabbage worms from laying their eggs on the plants. This means no green worms eating holes in the leaves or ending up on your dinner plate.
Loosely cover the planting with the fabric and anchor the edges with boards, pipes, stones, or wickets. Leave enough slack for the plants to grow. The plants support the fabric, so no frames or construction is needed.
Increase your garden’s productivity by interplanting the cabbage with quick maturing radishes, beets and heat tolerant greens. You’ll harvest these short season crops at about the time the cabbage needs the space.
Harvest cabbage when the heads are firm and full size. Use a sharp knife to remove just the cabbage head, leaving the lower leaves and roots intact. Four to six new heads will arise from buds around the stem. These smaller heads can reach four or five inches in diameter.
Remove any wilted or damaged leaves before storing cabbage in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. If using only half a head of cabbage, wrap the cut end in plastic wrap.
A medium head of cabbage weighs about one and a half pounds and yields about five to six and a half cups of shredded cabbage. A few heads of cabbage can turn into lots of slaw, stuffed cabbage rolls and other tasty cabbage dishes.
Preserve some of your harvest for winter meals. Freeze cabbage by cutting it into coarse shreds, thin wedges or by separating the leaves. It can also be dehydrated and used as a base for casseroles or added to soups and stews.
Consider turning it into sauerkraut with simple fermentation. Make large batches in crocks then can or freeze when fermentation is complete. Smaller batches can be processed in mason jars and stored in the refrigerator.
No matter how you prepare it, cabbage makes a great addition to the garden and your meals.
Melinda Myers has written more than 20 gardening books, including Small Space Gardening. She hosts The Great Courses “How to Grow Anything” DVD series and the Melinda’s Garden Moment TV & radio segments. Myers is a columnist and contributing editor for Birds & Blooms magazine. Her web site is www.MelindaMyers.com.
Antiques
Latest Antiques, Collectibles, and Auction news
This vintage movie poster sold for $152,000
It has been nearly 3 months since our last update on antiques, collectibles, and auction news. Much has occurred since my last report, beginning with some valuable antique eyeglasses that were saved from destruction.
The rare pair of eyeglasses were saved by a knowledgeable employee of a second-hand store before they were buried in a New Zealand landfill. They were recently sold in an online auction according to UPI. The Martin’s Margins style glasses were designed by optician Benjamin Martin in 1756. According to UPI, “the unusual thick-framed look of the glasses results from Martin's belief that exposure to sunlight would cause damage to eyeglass lenses.” The glasses sold for $5,282.
A 1933 “The Invisible Man” movie poster went on the auction block in March according to the Antique Trade Gazette. The one sheet Invisible Man poster (2’ 3” X 3’ 5”) starred Claude Rains in the title role as a scientist. The film was based on a novel by H.G. Wells. This “Type B” version of the movie poster sold for $152,000.
A valuable baseball card collection is currently being sold in an online auction. According to ESPN, the “Uncle Jimmy” collection belonged to James Micioni of Boontown, NJ. ESPN reported that “he never married, never became a father and never owned a car. He walked to nearby jobs as a high school custodian and a chemical-factory worker.” He only left his small town to serve in World War II. He was a fan of the Yankees and Jackie Robinson. ESPN reported “experts believe to be one of the most extraordinary private collections in the hobby's history.” When he passed the cards were willed to his nieces and nephews who consigned them to an auction house. The cards have been grouped into 2,000 lots and are being auctioned in 3 sessions. Six 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth cards alone are expected to sell for $1 million.
A 1959 Martin D-18E guitar that had been modified to accommodate the left-handed Kurt Cobain recently set an auction record according to the Rolling Stone magazine. Cobain played the guitar in Nirvana’s iconic 1993 MTV Unplugged performance. It sold for slightly over $6 million. The winning bidder was identified as Peter Freedman. Freedman plans to include the guitar in worldwide exhibitions that he is planning to benefit the arts. The Rolling Stone reported “the previous record was $3.95 million for a Black Stratocaster owned by Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour.”
Food and Wine magazine reported that an over 250 year old bottle of cognac recently set an auction record. The 1762 bottle of Gautier Cognac was said to be the oldest bottle ever sold at auction. There are believed to be only 3 bottles of this vintage that still exist. The bottle with its original label sold for a little over $144,000. There was no information on whether the winning bidder planned to sample any.
I’ll be presenting a webinar on July 8th at 2:00 PM in conjunction with Worthpoint.com “Don't Give Away Your Valuables. Get the Most for Your Estate Contents.”. There is a link to register on our website. We are also cataloging items for an online estate auction in Warren, RI and are planning to run an estate sale in Auburn, MA this summer. Bidding was strong during our recent online only antique estate auction. We are accepting quality consignments of smaller, high value items such as jewelry, sterling silver, coins, paintings, vintage comic books and sports memorabilia for our next auction. Please watch our website or signup to be on our email list for updates on future events.
Contact us at: Wayne Tuiskula Auctioneer/Appraiser Central Mass Auctions for Antique Auctions, Estate Sales and Appraisal Services www.centralmassauctions.com (508-612- 6111) info@centralmassauctions.com