Cabbage Planting Time

It's cabbage planting time in Northeast Mississippi. Some say it may even be too late. Our local farm supply store had some pretty cabbage plants this week along with six-packs of broccoli and brussels sprouts. Because of space limitations, I had to forego the cabbage but did purchase some brussels sprouts to set out in pots, along with onions and lettuce. Our family has recently become enamored of roasted brussels sprouts, thanks to daughter Alysson's instigation. Don't knock them until you try them halved or quartered and oven-roasted with a little salt and olive oil.

Fessie and Beck were more enamored with cabbage, and I'm not sure they ever grew brussels sprouts. Like their watermelons, the bigger the cabbage the better. Cabbage provided the slaw that went with Beck's fried catfish and provided the main ingredient for the sauerkraut that Beck canned every spring.

Below is a picture of Fessie, cap askew as was typical, holding a large head of cabbage fresh cut out of the garden. After Fessie died, Beck and her daughter Jo continued "making the garden" each year. In fact, Beck grew an unusual four-headed cabbage that was pictured in the local Itawamba County Times newspaper. Wonder what Fessie would have said about that!