Permaculture, Homesteading, and Community Building // An Overview of Wild Cabbage, the Ancestor of Brassicas, and a Free Seed Giveaway

Hi everyone! Today I harvested my first handful of wild cabbage, which is the plant that gave birth to many vegetables that are common in our diets. Wild cabbage is the ancestor of all cultivars of Brassica Oleracea, including cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, brussels sprouts, collard greens, and kohlrabi. Basically, the wild cabbage plant was a plant found in the wild and then cultivated by humans to make our vegetables such as broccoli and collard greens. You may be wondering how a plant such as wild cabbage could create a plant such as broccoli? People began to select wild cabbage plants that exhibited traits that they wanted. In the case of broccoli, it was created by selecting wild cabbage plants with larger flower clusters. In the case of kohlrabi, it was created by selecting wild cabbage plants with a thicker stalk. How cool is that??

I got my seeds at the Bioneers seed swap hosted by the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center last October, and was so excited when the first seedling emerged in the greenhouse. In honor of my first harvest today, I thought I would make a post introducing the plant to the Steemit community.

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History

• It is native to coastal southern and western Europe
• The first evidence of cultivation was from the Greeks and Romans
• It is still found growing wild on the coastline of Britain and the coastal Mediterranean region

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How to Grow

• Sow seeds in the spring
• Plant in an area that gets at least 6 hours of sun per day
• The wild cabbage will grow in most soil types
• Water the plant regularly while it is establishing itself; once it has matured the wild cabbage is drought tolerant
• The wild cabbage is a biennial, producing a flower spike that is 3-7 feet tall in its second year
• It can be grown as a perennial if you keep on cutting off the spike, making sure the plant does not flower
• Continuously harvest the outer leaves as you would harvest kale leaves

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Benefits

• "The Lumbee tribe of North Carolina have traditionally used the leaves of Brassica oleracea in medicine that is believed to have cleansing qualities, as well as a mild laxative, anti-inflammatory, and treatment for glaucoma and pneumonia." Source
• They are a good source of vitamin C, vitamin A precursors, vitamin K, folate, vitamin E and fibre
• It contains glucosinolates, "whose breakdown products cause their pungent taste and which have particular anti-cancer properties different from those in other vegetables" Source

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Cooking with Wild Cabbage

• The leaves can be a substitute for kale in any recipe
• The outer leaves should be continuously harvested (before they become tough)
• The leaves can be eaten raw, baked, sauteed, boiled, ect
• The leaves and stems can be used for sauerkraut
• The flowering heads can be used in salads
• The seeds can be used to make sprouts

Today I used my wild cabbage leaves in a curry. I sauteed onions and garlic, tossed in curry powder, added the chopped up wild cabbage leaves along with a cup of water, let the leaves cook for 5 minutes, added a can of coconut milk, and then added rice and beans. I topped it off with raisin, lime zest, and black sesame seeds. It was delicious :-)

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Seed Giveaway for the Steemit Community

Wild Cabbage seeds are hard to come by. I just tried to find them online and had no luck. I was lucky enough to be gifted the seeds at an exchange, and have around 20 extra that I would love to share with the Steemit community. The first three people who comment with interest in having these seeds, I will mail 7 seeds each to you (USA only, sorry!). I hope these seeds find their way to good homes and I hope that they give back many delicious treats to the hands that will bring them to life :-)

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Sources

http://www.ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=19859
http://eol.org/pages/583899/overview
http://www.businessinsider.com/broccoli-kale-brussels-sprouts-vegetables-all-the-same-plant-2015-11
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brassica_oleracea#cite_note-12
http://rawedibleplants.blogspot.com/2012/02/wild-cabbage-brassica-oleracea.html
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268516193_Nutritional_attributes_of_Brassica_vegetables