Q and A: when to harvest cabbage and conserving water

When to harvest cabbage

I’m growing cabbage this year for the first time. It’s growing great, but I didn’t think it was ready to be picked yet. The green heads are pretty big; the red ones are smaller. When I was working in our community garden the other day, people were harvesting the cabbage there, and I was surprised. How do I know when my cabbage is ready to harvest?

Jeanne Allie
Storrs, Connecticut

Your cabbage can be harvested any time after it makes decent-sized heads. Some folks harvest smaller heads; others wait until they are as large as they will get. I tend toward the latter. But if you wait too long, some varieties will split open. — Jackie

Conserving water

Living on the Great Plains during this nasty drought we’re experiencing, I constantly find myself worrying about water, and the availability and conservation of water. I remember reading on your blog that you didn’t have running water in your house for a while, and I wonder, how did you conserve water during canning season?

Shelly Huelsman
Bucklin, Kansas

I used two batches of water to wash vegetables, one for washing off the most dirt, the other clean water to rinse and finish with. The finish water became the first wash after it began to get a little dirty. When I dumped the yucky first wash water, I dumped it on my vegetables. When I water bathed my tomato products, I re-used the same batch of water over and over, adding more, as necessary until it got a little yucky. Then I cooled it and used it to water in the garden, pouring in fresh water to start over again. I used my Victorio tomato strainer so I didn’t have to scald and peel tomatoes, just wash them off. One thing I’ve learned is that when water is scarce, you can sure get by with a lot less than you do when it’s plentiful! — Jackie