Cabbages and Kings

Cabbage is the great stalwart of the vegetable garden, standing through rain, wind and frost; it is indeed a hardy staple food.  The different varieties are staggering too, red, savoy, drumhead, loose, pointed; there really is a cabbage for all seasons and recipes. 

Leaves starting to grow on the stalk

Did you know that with a little coaxing, your cabbage could keep on giving; once you have cut the head that is not the end of your cabbage.  When you cut your cabbage head, leave a few inches of stalk above the ground, remove any leaves that can attract slugs, and then cut a cross in the top of the stalk.  Within a few weeks, new leaves will start to grow and given time, four new little cabbages will have been produced.  These are really useful and you can cut one at a time for use in stir fries.  In fact, I have had the same cabbages producing leaves and heads for most of the year.  When they finally run out of steam and start to produce flower stalks, if you pick those young enough they are edible too.

The new minature cabbage heads

You can elevate your humble cabbage to gourmet status by slicing thinly and gently braising in a good knob of butter or oil if you prefer, then grate some nutmeg on top. 

Basket of Sweet Genovese Basil

Basil is often described as the king of the herbs and it certainly lifts an ordinary dish of grilled tomatoes on toast to something very special.  I have been very lucky and had a bumper crop of basil, but what can you do with a glut?

I like to make basil infused oil; it captures the very essence of the herb.  I take my basil leaves and stalks, and break them into a screw top or kilner type jar.  Cover the leaves with some good extra virgin olive oil and put in a cool dark place.  Shake every day for about two weeks and then sieve out the leaves; you may have to let them drain for a few hours to make sure no precious oil gets left behind.  Decant into a bottle.  If you wanted to make a super concentrated oil, just put in some more fresh basil leaves and do the same again.  You now have delicious basil flavoured oil for winter use to drizzle over pizza, bruschetta or to perk up pasta sauces with all the taste of your summer basil.  There are many different sorts of basil, one of my favourites is lettuce leaved with its lovely big crinkled leaves.  Sow seeds in a pot and put into a warm place to germinate, if you put on a bottle cloche, it will hasten germination (plastic pop bottle with the bottom cut off).  It will grow well on a sunny windowsill or conservatory; make sure you give it a good sized pot to grow in.

How are things going in your garden?  What is growing well for you or what is doing badly, let me know.

You can contact me, Nelly Dean, on cottagegardenerdromahair@gmail.com with any tips or questions