Cabbage vegetables: types of cabbage vegetables, useful properties, features of cultivation and storage

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-02 13:48

Such vegetables, the aerial parts of which a person eats, are called cabbage. They have similar chemical composition. This article will list various cabbage vegetables, their he alth benefits, and give tips on growing and storing them.

Headed cabbage

A fork or a head of cabbage is called an overgrown apical bud. It is surrounded by fleshy leaves, located on a shortened stem. This is a stump. The size, color and shape of the head of cabbage directly depends on the variety and varieties of cabbage.

White Cabbage

This variety of cabbage vegetables is the most common. Its popularity is due to several reasons. First, its varieties bring a bountiful harvest. Secondly, vegetables have excellent taste. The third advantage is high portability. Varieties included in this group may differ in size, shape, color.

Red cabbage

In general, cabbage vegetables that make up this variety are similar in their properties to white cabbage. However, they have a tighter fork. The leaves are blue-red or red-violet. They are characterized by increased rigidity.

Savoy cabbage

Loose loose head of cabbage is represented by yellow-green corrugated leaves. The shelf life of these vegetables and their transportability are inferior to those of white cabbage. Despite this, the Savoy variety is quite common, as it contains a large amount of nitrogenous substances and minerals.

Brussels sprouts

These cabbage vegetables have an interesting feature: small heads are formed in the axils of the leaves. The plant can reach a height of 1 meter. It contains from 20 to 740 heads of cabbage weighing 15-20 grams. Brussels sprouts are high in protein, vitamin C and minerals. This variety has the highest nutritional value.

Beijing cabbage

The head of these vegetables is looser. It is white at the base and light green at the top. Its shape is elongated. Often, Beijing cabbage is confused with Chinese cabbage. However, the latter variety does not form heads at all, its leaves are collected in rosettes.

Cauliflower

So, it's time to move on to the second category of cabbage vegetables. This is cauliflower. Three varieties are considered the main ones:

Actually cauliflower. For food, a person uses the inflorescence. It and the pedicel form a white, yellow, green or purple head. This vegetable is considered one of the best dietary andeven taste. It contains vitamins, mineral s alts and a large amount of proteins

• Broccoli is another variety of cauliflower. She also has edible flowers. They are colored green or purple.
• Romanesco is a cabbage with a milder taste and delicate texture. The edible part is usually light green. It contains vitamins of groups C and K, as well as carotene.

Cole sprouts

This variety includes turnip cabbage, or kohlrabi. All the beneficial substances that this vegetable possesses are contained in the stem. That part of it, which is located above the ground, most often acquires a spherical or turnip-shaped shape. It is she who is eaten. The pulp of kohlrabi is more juicy and tender compared to white cabbage. It contains vitamin B₁, B_{2, C. There is more of it here than in citrus fruits.}

Cabbage

A special group is non-headed vegetables. Cabbage leaves contain vitamins, proteins and other nutrients. Which vegetables belong to this group?

• Bok choy. The leaves of the plant are collected in rosettes. When raw, they are very rough. For food, a person consumes either young plants, or only petioles. The taste is a bit spicy.
• Kale, or grunkol - has lacy leaves of green or white. The vegetable is exceptionally rich in protein and calcium, as well as vitamins A, C, K and B.
• Portuguese cabbage is a bit like lettuce. blue green leaveselongated oval in the raw form is too hard, which is why the vegetable is often boiled or stewed. After heat treatment, the cabbage is still crispy.
• Mitsuna is a vegetable native to Japan, forming a large white root crop. Taste qualities are excellent. The leaves have an unusual appearance: they look like they were cut with scissors.
• Ta-tsoi is another variety of kale. It has oval-round leaves of dark green color. The taste is slightly spicy, mustard.
• Kai-lan is a unique kind of cabbage. The fact is that absolutely all above-ground parts are edible in her. The most delicious are the tops of the stems. It tastes like asparagus, broccoli and kale.

Growing conditions

Cabbage and onion vegetables are considered undemanding crops. However, a number of conditions must be met in order to get a bountiful harvest. First of all, you need to fertilize the soil in the fall. To do this, add manure, humus or compost to it and dig it all up. Mineral fertilizers are not suitable for cabbage, as the crop accumulates nitrates.

The harvest depends on the level of humidity. Water quickly evaporates with the help of large leaves, which leads to an almost instantaneous loss of moisture. If there is insufficient rainfall, the garden should be watered regularly. In this case, the ideal method would be sprinkling, which saturates both the soil and the air with moisture.

Sowing in the ground

There are two ways to grow cabbage. The first option is sowing seeds in open ground. This method will save you the hassle of transplanting plants. It is necessary to prepare small holes. After placing the seeds in them, the wells are covered with glass jars or transparent plastic bottles with a pre-cut house. This will help create conditions close to greenhouse, that is, the cabbage will grow faster. Shelter is removed only after the leaves become crowded.

Planting seedlings

Seedlings can be planted in the ground at any time. However, it is better to use young sockets. This will allow the plant to quickly take root in a new place. A vegetable is ready for transplanting when it has 2 or 3 leaves.

Before planting, seedlings are watered abundantly, as well as holes. Until the moisture has evaporated, the sockets are placed in the resulting dirt. After that, the soil is watered again. The soil is mulched with wood shavings and eggshells. With this shelter, moisture is retained for a longer time. Moreover, the plant will be protected from pests.

Care

Processing cabbage vegetables is carried out with the help of drugs with fungicidal properties. These include, for example, "Prestige". This drug protects the plant from various diseases and pests. With it, you can prevent the appearance of aphids, cabbage flies and cruciferous fleas, as well as defeat fungal diseases in the bud.

Cabbage and onion vegetables can be processed without the use of chemical compounds. For example, withinsects can be controlled with wood ash, tobacco dust and ground red pepper. This mixture is applied to wet leaves. To protect plants from various pests, you need to plant garlic, nasturtium, marigolds nearby.

Storage of cabbage vegetables

When harvesting cabbage, almost the entire stalk is cut off, leaving only 2 cm. In order for vegetables to remain in good condition for a long time, cover leaves must be left. The fact is that they serve as protection against various diseases and injuries. Fallen and rosette leaves should be removed, which do not allow air to penetrate to the cabbage. As a result, areas with high temperature and high humidity are formed, which causes the reproduction of harmful microorganisms.

Cabbage should be stored in heaps or on pallets. Such storage places provide good air exchange. The bottom is laid with sawdust, polyethylene panels or burlap. Under such conditions, vegetables retain their quality for 2-3 months. You can also place cabbage in containers or even store it in bins.

Refrigerators are also suitable for storing cabbage. However, if the head is not positioned correctly, it will begin to rot in a few days. It is necessary by all means to protect the vegetable from moisture. To do this, you can wrap it in cling film or wrap it in paper. If you want to freeze vegetables for cooking first or second courses, then you will need to rid the cabbage of damaged leaves, wash the cabbage and dry it thoroughly, and thencut it. There are different forms of cutting cabbage vegetables, but housewives most often choose straws. In this form, the vegetable is most convenient to add to various dishes.

Useful properties

Different types of cabbage have been cultivated since ancient times. To this day, these vegetables have a high nutritional value. They are used to prepare dishes in many countries of the world. For example, a Russian person cannot imagine a traditional table without cabbage soup, sauerkraut and cabbage rolls. Cabbage vegetables are cut and processed in various ways. Cabbage can be stuffed, baked, stewed, fried, pickled, used as a filling for pies and eaten raw.

Cabbage is of great value in folk medicine. White cabbage juice contains a large amount of vitamin U, so it is widely used in the treatment of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. It helps in the fight against purulent wounds and ulcers. Regular consumption of cabbage has a beneficial effect on general he alth: cholesterol and blood sugar levels return to normal, excess moisture is removed from the body. You should not get carried away with these vegetables for those people who suffer from spasms of the intestines and biliary tract, as well as acute enterocolitis or increased peristalsis. Cabbage juice is used as a cosmetic product, as it has a rejuvenating effect.