Wednesday, February 17, 2016

It's National Cabbage Day

Today is the day to celebrate that large, dense green (or sometimes purple) hunk of veggie called cabbage.

National Cabbage Day is observed annually Feb. 17. According to wikipedia, Cabbage (Brassica oleracea or variants) is a leafy green or purple biennial plant, grown as an annual vegetable crop for its dense-leaved heads. Closely related to other cole crops, such as broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts, it descends from B. oleracea var. oleracea, a wild field cabbage. 

Cabbage heads generally range from 1 to 9 pounds and can be green, purple and white. Smooth-leafed firm-headed green cabbages are the most common, with smooth-leafed red and crinkle-leafed savoy cabbages of both colors seen more rarely. 

It is a multi-layered vegetable. Under conditions of long sunlit days such as are found at high northern latitudes in summer, cabbages can grow much larger.




New York state is big in cabbage, ranking second in the country in the production of cabbage (at one time New York was ranked number one). 

If you want to know more about New York cabbage, go to http://www.agriculture.ny.gov/AD/release.asp?ReleaseID=3054 and read this story about the state's cabbage industry.

Cabbage is the main ingredient of coleslaw.  It also has some medicinal purposes.


CELEBRATE

Following are a few “tried and true” recipes for you to enjoy:



Use #NationalCabbageDay to post on social media.


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