Big cabbage

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Cabbage
Brassica Oleracea var. Capitata
Melissa Bokoff Practical Agriculture June 2, 2004
http//www.alaskagiant.com/images/cabbage2.jpg
www.botanic.jp/plants-ka/cabbag.htm
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The Amazing Cabbage
Cabbage plants have great tenacity of life, and
will rally and grow when they appear to be dead
the leaves may all die, and dry up like hay, but
if the stump stands erect, the plant will surely
survive
J. Gregory Cabbages Cauliflowers How to Grow
Them, A Practical Treatise
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Mon Petit Chou-chou

• Brassica Oleracea var. capitata ?
• cabbage plant of the garden with a head

Whats in a name?

• Cabbage is derived from caboche, French for
  head

• Excellent source of Vitamin C
• Helped prevent scurvy on long sea-voyages

Whats in this stuff?

• Contains vitamin A, thiamin, potassium, fiber,
  and riboflavin

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? Market History ?
? 27 pounds per capita in early 1900s

• Dehydrated cabbage niche war-time market

• Historical leading states in cabbage production

• Texas

• New York

• ? Wisconsin

• California

? Steady increase of cabbage imports from Canada
Mexico
? Steady increase of consolidation among cabbage
farms
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• ONLY 8 lbs per capita in 2002-03
• Upward Trend This season, a 4 increase from
  2002-03!

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Growing Specifications

• Early and Late Varieties
• Cool-season Cole crop
• - Optimal growing temp 45-85F
• Direct seed or transplant (3-4 tall)
• - Space 12 apart
• Shallow root system, high water demand
• Maintain soil pH between 6.5-7

Undersow with sweet clover as a green manure and
weed suppressant root systems complement each
other
idea
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Amazing Storage!

• Storage Procedure
• Freshness for 5-6 months!
• Caution when storing with other fruit and
  vegetables

www.alleycat-art.com/ agcard08.html
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Cabbage Products

• Fresh cabbage
• Frozen or Canned
• Bagged Salad mix
• Sauerkraut
• Cole Slaw
• Flowering Cabbages
• Edible? Ornamental?
• Baby Greens

www.wildfermentation.com/_makingsauerkraut.htm
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Marketing Venues

• Sell direct to restaurants
• (i.e. egg rolls, baby greens)

• D.I.Y. value-added
• get crafty with the Kraut

• Take advantage of Atkins craze

• Promote the medicinal qualities of cabbage with
  pamphlets

• Earliest cabbages to market fetch premium prices

• Use more of the cabbage plant! Cabbage leaf
  wraps?

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Market Value

• Approx. 32 for 50 lbs of fresh cabbage (Growing
  for Market)
• According to Oregon State University Extension,
  well managed fields in the Pacific Northwest
  should expect yields of 35/tons/acre of processed
  cabbage.
• University of Kentucky Extension estimates 100
  hours of labor per acre for harvesting and
  marketing. Additional labor for production.
  (Inorganic system)
• - Pessimistic return -Conservative
  -Optimistic
• (651/acre) loss 292/acre
  877/acre
• Estimates from Department of Ag. Economics
  Lansing, MI

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Production Concerns

• Cabbage markets do not dovetail
• ex. Sauerkraut production uses different
  varieties of cabbage and different harvesting
  method than fresh market sales.

• Labor cost questions
• - fresh market cabbage generally hand-picked
  and packaged.

• Cabbage heads prone to cracking
• if exposed to unexpected moisture during final
  stages of maturation (i.e. rain) could result in
  unmarketable goods.

• Pests, Pests, Pests

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Amazing Growth!
Long before Miracle-Gro, farmers developed ways
to grow massive vegetables such as this beauty
from Alaska.
An 89.9 pound cabbage and a very proud vegetable
champion, Seth Dinkel, 9. Michael Dinneen / The
Associated Press
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