The Cole Crops or Cabbage family. This is a very nutritious set of plants thatwe're
going to be talking about today. When I say the cabbage family, there are actually
many different vegetables that we grow in the cruciferous family. The Cruciferae. Cabbage is one of them, but closely related
are broccoli, brussels sprouts, kale, and many others. Radicchio is a good example of these kind
of specialty crops that are in this family. They are high in Vitamin A, Vitamin C. They
have good calcium and iron. In addition, there is a cabbage glucosinolate
called sinigrin that has shown great promise as a cancer preventative. These crops can be started in Spring, early
Spring, about six weeks before the last frost, or out in the garden in June in our area. Except for Brussels sprouts which are a long
season crop of 120 days. So you start the seeds in the Spring to have
those plants mature in the late growing season. In fact, a frost won't hurt Brussels sprouts
at all and may improve the flavor. To get started you plant the seeds about 1/4
inch deep in compost or potting soil, 6 weeks before the last frost or right in the ground
in the garden in June. After the little plants emerge in 7 days,
generally, you give them another week and then you thin the plants. Transplanting these little plants into larger
pots to give them more room. If you've planted them in the garden you just
thin them out and let each plant stand where they are about a foot apart. You want to plant your cole crops in full
sun, but if part of your garden is shady, you can put these plants in light shade, leaving
the sunny parts of your garden for the warm-season sun-loving plants like tomatoes. You want a good well-tilled soil. They are heavy feeders so it has to have plenty
of compost or other nigtrogen rich amendments. The pH range is best from 6.3 to 6.8. If you have had any problem with clubroot,
a disease of cabbage plants in the past, you will want to keep the pH at a fairly high
level. When you are purchasing your plants at a garden
center, you want to pull those plants out of the pot and take a look at the roots. You want to be planting a teenager plant,
with plenty of vim and vigor. You don't want a too mature plant. These we've grown here at Marsh Botanic Gardens. They are a bit on the mature side, but they
are just fine. We've had five days of rain in the last week,
so I'm going to go ahead and plant these. Notice the roots. If the root mass covers the bottom of the
ball, you want to avoid buying that plant. We plant these plants in well-tilled garden
soil, well drained and water immediately. An important point is to make sure you label
everything. This is a little savoy cabbage and what I
do in my labeling system; I write on the label the date that I planted the seeds, the day
I transplanted them to a larger pot and the day I put it out in the garden. I make sure I put the name of the plant right
next to it. This may seem like a lot of work, but later
on as you compare which varieties of broccoli say, that were the most productive and the
best for you, you'll want to make sure that you have records of what you planted.