Cabbages

The Latin name of the cabbage family is Brassicaceae (or brassica). This plant family include most of the cabbage types that we know: broccoli, cauliflower, red cabbage, Brussels´sprouts, white cabbage and savoy cabbage. These are all closely related under the species Brassica oleracea. They are annual grown vegetables with dense leaved heads or flower heads. There is also a group that is more loose leaved and are commonly known as spring greens. The last is a group of cultivars that are closer to the wild cabbage than the others and include among others Kale and Collard greens. However, spring greens also refer to young plants of Brussels´sprouts, green cabbage, rape and turnip.



The other group of cabbages is the Chinese cabbages, Brassica rapa. In this group we´ll find the Chinese cabbage, Pak choi, Bok choy, Choi sum, Am choy, mustard cale, but also the turnip, radish, rapeseed, rucola (formerly Rocket) and many more.




All above mentioned cabbage types and varieties are winter and spring vegetables in the Extremadura. The cabbages from Brassica oleracea are especially adapted to cold weather and some off them, like the Brussels´sprouts, have a better flavour after a touch of frost. For all the varieties of this family group the temperature is important to produce the heads. If the temperature is too high during development of the plant, the heads will be small, or no heads will be formed at all.

The vegetables of the Brassica rapa are more favored to spring. They grow in winter, but they produce better and have better flavour in spring time. Turnip greens are a vegetable that can be grown very early in the year, producing nice tender shoots that can be used as salad leaf or cooked, stir fried, steamed or in soup. In former times this vegetable was often the first fresh green vegetable the people in Northern Europe could get after winter.

The gardens of La Tierra Verde are also full of cabbages. I try to grow a wide selection of cabbage types, as long as the planting material is available. At the moment there is a lot off broccoli. You can also expect romanesco, cauliflower, red cabbage, white cabbage, savoy cabbage, chinese cabbage, turnip greens, rucola and maybe some Brussels´sprouts.