This online guide has been created for you to
successfully grow a variety of plants that thrive in the
tropics, using native seeds and plants to get growing
with wise advice from fellow backyard gardeners and
farmers. You are welcome to add your wisdom
and share growing and harvest tips and recipes. |
Welcome to
Pro-Organic Belize Tropical
Garden
Grow Guide Where
you are the
student and the teacher.
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Send to proorganicbelize@gmail.com | Plant of the month January 2023 | ||||||||||
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Description: A
round headed leafy cruciferous
vegetable. There
are white, green and
purple varieties and several variations of cabbage. This grow
guide will feature the three common
varieties, How to grow: Cabbage
seeds may be started in potting
soil or planted directly where they will be grown, Look
for heat resistant
varieties. Seeds
will germinate in 6-10
days, plant seedlings at least two feet apart when
secondary leaves form; allow
only the first leaves to be ½ inch out of the ground. Dawn Dean,
author of Gardening in Southern
Belize recommends planting cabbage seedlings 15
inches apart and harvesting
every other cabbage as their leaves begin to touch. They
are tender and
delicious. It
is advised to plant
cabbage seedlings in the rainy season in Belize for
harvest in the dry season. Cabbage
can take from 6 to 18 weeks to mature. They require
regular watering and benefit from compost tea, Here is
an easy homemade recipe for DIY
fertilizer: ¼ cup epsom salts, 2 cups urine, grass and
weed clippings that have
been steeped in water in a 5 gallon bucket with a cover
for at least 2 weeks.
Strain the
water from clippings mix with
epsom salts and urine apply as a side fertilizer when
watering plants. Disease and insect
control: It
is a wonder how cabbage has survived
as a food crop for thousands of years. Cabbage is
susceptable to cabbage worms, small white butterflies,
aphids, earwigs, club
root (a fungal disease), snails and slugs. To help
control damage it is advisable to check under the leaves
for
worms and bugs and pick them off and use an organic
insecticide if things get
out of control. Cabbage plants are compatible with bush
beans, celery,
cucumbers, onions, marigolds and aromatic herbs, like
oregano and thyme.
Avoid planting pole beans, tomatoes, hot
peppers or eggplant near cabbage. Do not plant cabbage
in the same location for
at least three years to reduce pests and disease. . Cabbage is
susceptable to cabbage worms, small white butterflies,
aphids, earwigs, club
root (a fungal disease), snails and slugs.
To help control damage it is advisable to check
under the leaves for
worms and bugs and pick them off and use an organic
insecticide if things get
out of control. Cabbage plants are compatible with bush
beans, celery,
cucumbers, onions, marigolds and aromatic herbs, like
oregano and thyme.
Avoid planting pole beans, tomatoes, hot
peppers or eggplant near cabbage. Do not plant cabbage
in the same location for
at least three years to reduce pests and disease. How to harvest: Use
a large sharp knife or a machete
to cut off just the head of the cabbage when it is hard
and ripe. Cabbages have
a tendency to split open when too ripe.
Leave the base in place and continue to water as
delicious leaves and little cabbages will continue
to produce from the base. Health benefits: Cabbages
contain a storehouse of nutrition
and healing properties, including,Vitamin C, B6 and K,
folic acid, calcium, magnesium,
manganese, potassium, antioxidants and fiber. Red cabbage is higher
in nutrients than white or green. Recipes: Cabbage
may be shredded for raw salads,
steamed, stuffed, baked, fermented to make sauerkraut
and kimchee. Here
is a very tasty easy to make cabbage
recipe: - oil a large baking
pan, - cut a cabbage into
wedges or slices that are about 1” thick
arrange wedges in a single layer in the pan - brush cabbage with
olive oil sprinkle with sea salt and
freshly ground pepper.
Bake for
approximately 1/2 hour at 400 degrees F or until cabbage
begins to carmelize around the edges. -
Squeeze lemon juice on top, drizzle with tahini sauce
and serve.
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