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Probably many have heard the proverb: “There is no cabbage and the table is empty.” Indeed, this is an amazing vegetable, rich in vitamins and microelements with a small amount of calories. Nutritionists have long come up with diets for weight loss using cabbage. Pediatricians also advise giving this vegetable to young children.
Russians prepare cabbage soup, borscht, stewed cabbage, pies and many other delicious dishes. It is not necessary to buy this product in the store; you can grow cabbage in your own garden. This is where the question arises, especially for beginners, when to remove cabbage from the garden. Let's try to figure it out.
Are there uniform cleaning times?
The lady cabbage has grown in the garden, it needs to be harvested. Errors in choosing the timing of harvesting can lead to losses. Forks removed early may turn out to be loose and not fully formed. Late cutting is also undesirable due to cracking of the heads during storage.
Is it possible to find out exactly when cabbage is harvested from the garden? It turns out not. Not even the most experienced gardener can name the number of times to harvest even in his own garden, since many factors have to be taken into account:
- growing region and climatic features;
- compliance with agrotechnical standards of cultivation and care;
- the weather of the current summer;
- variety of planted cabbage according to ripening time;
- variety selection.
Region and climate
Mother Russia stretches from north to south and from east to west for thousands of kilometers. Gardeners live in several zones. Therefore, vegetables are harvested at different times. First of all, because seedlings are planted in the garden at different times. In the south, for example, early cabbage is already cut at the end of June, and in areas with a sharply continental climate, the seedlings are just beginning to spin.
The timing of harvesting is very dependent on the climatic conditions of the summer. If the summer is cool, with heavy rainfall, cabbage grows by leaps and bounds, and therefore ripens earlier. And in dry and hot weather, despite watering, heads of cabbage will form later, and the yield will be lower.
Depending on the ripening period
According to the ripening period, cabbage can be:
- super early;
- early;
- mid-season:
- late ripening.
What does it mean? Harvesting of early varieties of cabbage begins 100 days after sowing the seeds. The time for cutting off late ripening dates occurs after approximately 150 days.
When to cut the heads of cabbage, taking into account technical ripeness. Of course, the harvesting time will be approximate if you apply the mathematical method: add to the day of sowing the seeds the dates indicated for a particular variety.
Early ripening varieties
Let's say you live in Siberia and sowed seeds June cabbage May 1, and it ripens in 98 days. It turns out that early cabbage is harvested in late July and early August. But this is approximate, since the weather in summer is always different. In the southern regions of Russia a month earlier.
You cannot be late in harvesting early varieties, otherwise the heads of cabbage will begin to crack. Microbes get into the cracks, which leads to rotting.
Mid and late ripening
Medium and late ripening varieties are intended for pickling and keeping fresh in winter. And the cleaning takes place almost simultaneously. It is not advisable to remove heads of cabbage ahead of time:
- quality of pickled and salted cabbage will be low, since the heads of cabbage will not have time to form;
- Such a vegetable will not last long;
- The cellar has not yet reached the desired temperature.
If we take into account the ripening period, then late and medium ripening varieties are harvested at the end of September, beginning of October.
Weather
When harvesting cabbage from the garden, the weather must be taken into account. As a rule, heads of cabbage begin to be cut when the average daily temperature is no more than +5 degrees. There may be frosts at night, but they are not a hindrance; on the contrary, sugar accumulates in the heads of cabbage and the bitterness disappears. The taste gets better.
Why is it not recommended to remove heads of cabbage intended for winter storage ahead of schedule? The fact is that in September and early October, at positive daytime temperatures, the vegetable continues to grow. Therefore, the beds need to be watered, loosened the soil, that is, the same agricultural work must be performed.
The plant can withstand night frosts up to 6 degrees. But you shouldn’t wait for sub-zero temperatures to persist during the day. If the top leaves remain frozen during the day and do not thaw, immediately start harvesting the cabbage.
It is also necessary to know at least approximately when to harvest vegetables from the garden in the fall because watering stops about two weeks in advance. In addition, if the heads of cabbage have grown to enormous sizes, and the harvest time has not yet arrived, the forks may crack.
To prevent this from happening, experienced gardeners advise depriving the plant of nutrition. Grab the fork with both hands and turn it from side to side. And then lift it up. Most of the roots will come off and nutrition will be reduced. The fork will remain intact.
How to properly remove cabbage
Novice gardeners are interested not only in when to cut heads of cabbage, but also in how:
- First of all, choose a sunny day without precipitation for work.
- Heads of cabbage can be pulled out if the soil is loose. Dig the stumps out of the hard ground with a shovel and carefully shake off the roots.
- Place the cabbage on boards so that it dries immediately. It is not recommended to keep the heads of cabbage under the sun for a long time: the moisture evaporating from the surface will make them soft and reduce their shelf life.
Harvesting cabbage under the snow:
All leaves cannot be removed. Remove only the outer leaves, which may have damage or pests. When cleaning, you need to consider how you will store the forks:
- If you plan to hang heads of cabbage in a basement or cellar, you need to unscrew it along with the stump from the ground.
- Many gardeners store vegetables on racks. In this case, the stalk needs to be trimmed. The knife must be well sharpened so that the cut is smooth. Only the top leaves are cleaned.
- Today it has become fashionable to preserve cabbage by wrapping it in cling film. The head of cabbage is peeled until white leaves appear.You need to wrap well-dried forks; the slightest moisture will lead to rotting.
As soon as the last head of cabbage is harvested from the garden, the harvest is taken under a canopy, into a garage, or a barn. In a word, to any place where precipitation and sun do not fall. In addition, cabbage should not freeze during storage.
When the temperature in the cellar is optimal for cabbage, the vegetables are transferred there. Some will go to salting, some will remain fresh.
Conclusion
You can determine the time of cutting heads of cabbage by external signs. If the top becomes yellow and dry, the cabbage is ripe. She looks just like in the photo.
When to remove cabbage from the garden, gardeners themselves decide, taking into account the factors that we have discussed. Today, many people prefer to measure all their actions with the recommendations of the Lunar calendar. Astrologers advise harvesting cabbage during the waning moon.
