Cabbage Harvest

The temperatures around here have been dipping into the teens at night and my standing bed of cabbage was beginning to look a little sad.  They had formed nice heads, but I was waiting to harvest so I could make a little more room in the freezer.  I had to change my plans though because this is the time of year that I will allow the chickens free range in the garden to help fertilize and stir up the soil in the beds.  Things had been fine until yesterday.  They decided that they really love red cabbage and pecked off half of the heads before I realized what they were up to.

I decided that the red cabbages were too far gone to be worth saving, but they hadn't made a move on the green cabbages yet, so I got to work harvesting.  There were only three to harvest, but I had to use a hatchet to chop through their thick, frozen stems.  I trimmed off the loose leaves and left them in the bed to become mulch.  The heads I brought inside to thaw so I could process them properly.

One of the heads was huge and weighed in at 4lbs 5.4oz.  The other two heads were about average sized and weighed in at 2lbs 5 oz and 1lb 14oz respectively.  I will wash them thoroughly and then blanch and freeze them for future use. I am looking forward to using my home grown cabbage on St. Patricks Day next year!