Home Vegetable Gardening: Grow Cabbage Successfully

By Author: Michael Podlesny
Total Articles: 174
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Cabbage is one of those vegetables that you do not normally think of growing in your home vegetable garden as it is not necessarily one of the most popular vegetables to grow.

However, if you are a fan of cabbage, like me (love the wife's stuffed cabbage recipe), then adding a plant or two in the home vegetable garden is easy to do if you are willing to put in a little extra care.

Here is how you can grow cabbage in your home vegetable garden.

Start by picking a site in your garden where cabbage will thrive. Cabbage does best in soil that has a pH level near or slightly above 6.5. Simple and easy to use and read pH testers are available at any garden or home center. Cabbage prefers full sun, but if you live in a warmer climate, then it will tolerate partial shade.

Space your cabbage plants out twelve to eighteen inches to ensure enough space for healthy root growth. If you partake in crop rotation of your garden (which you should), avoid planting cabbage in areas where beets, carrots, celery or herbs have been grown.

Cabbage roots do not embed themselves deep in the soil. In fact many ...
... varieties of cabbage grow their roots near the surface. This opens cabbage up to potential harm from many varieties of root type diseases such as club root. A one to inch layer of compost/mulch around the base your cabbage plants will go a long way in protecting the roots and keeping them well nourished.

Harvest your cabbage when they are the size of a softball or slightly larger. If you have planted the early season variety you can simply harvest the cabbage itself and leave the roots in the ground. If you are working with late season then pull the entire plant, roots and all from the ground.

As you can see it is easier than you think to add this great vegetable to your yearly spring, summer and autumn harvest. Now all you need to do is find some great cabbage recipes and you are all set.
About the Author
Mike is the author of the book Vegetable Gardening for the Average Person: A guide to vegetable gardening for the rest of us, available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and where ever gardening books are sold. He can be reached at his website: AveragePersonGardening.com where you can sign up for his free newsletter and he will send you a pack of vegetable seeds to get your home vegetable garden started.