Slaw, Slaw, and More Slaw

My sister-in-law and I have stumbled upon some great new takes on the summer classic slaw. Something we have been very successful with growing this year is cabbage. We are growing three different kinds: a mild Savoy, a pointed Wakefield, and the traditional cabbage of numerous sauerkraut recipes.

We really like the Savoy because it is mild. My sister-in-law's mother prefers the traditional head because of its sharp cabbage taste. However, for making a quick summer slaw in our minds, nothing beats the Savoy.

Simply quarter a head of cabbage. Then soak in a saltwater bath for a half hour to remove any bugs that might have beaten you to the cabbage (a couple tablespoons of salt and enough water to submerge the cabbage,we've been going pesticide-free). Rinse off the cabbage and remove the core. Then shred cabbage into 1/4" slices and toss with an instant dressing like Marzetti's Original Slaw Dressing (start with about 1/2 cup), and you have slaw.

Savoy cabbage, unlike the traditional cabbage, has a nice light green color throughout. Along with the mild flavor, this gives you a lot of flexibility in your slaw making. My sister-in-law added sliced apples with the peel and raisins for a fresh fruity slaw that was not overly sweet.

Today, I made a slaw with chopped cucumbers (1/2 to 1 cup) and onion (1/4 cup) and threw in a half a cup of dried cranberries, 1/4 teaspoon of salt and a 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper.

When I was young slaws always had fennel seed, carrots, onion, a traditional green cabbage base, with a bit of shredded purple cabbage for color. People fell into two camps: slaw eaters and avoiders.

If you prefer to make your own slaw dressing, there are numerous recipes, over half of which start with some sort of mayonnaise base. Curious about Marzetti's, I tasted it before adding it to my chopped ingredients and found the similarity in taste to my deviled egg salad recipe astounding.

To make a Marzetti-like slaw dressing combine:

1/2 cup of mayonnaise,
1 teaspoon of yellow mustard (like you put on hot dogs, not Bavarian-style, or Dijon, just plain old yellow),
1/4 teaspoon of sugar,
1/4 teaspoon of salt,
1/4 teaspoon pepper,
and a dash of Worcestershire sauce or soy sauce.

You might combine sweet red pepper, raisins, and cabbage. Or maybe jump off into a whole different group of sweet slaws with mangoes, pineapple, and blueberries. With the availability of ready-made slaw dressings, the possibilities are endless. Find a slaw you like and make it your own.

Have fun with this taste of summer.

Wonderful Ideas and Take Aways from the Vegetable and Fruit Gardens at the Chicago Botanical Gardens

The Chicago Botanical Gardens are obviously testing the best way to stake tomatoes. This plot is demonstrating three different methods: no stake, square caging (I think using pea fence) and tying to staked wires. The varieties in this plot are all heirloom varieties.


This 6" by 6" slant cut and routered cedar posting with eye hooks and wires is an elegant trellising system for growing grapes. We have not yet put up the trellising for the 'Reliance' grapes in the family berry and fruits area. I might have to copy this idea.


Cabbages grown in beautifully compost enriched soils at the CBG. My cabbage look almost this good. We are two weeks behind the CBG veggie plot, but our soil looks no where near this nice.



The family garden has been difficult this year simply because of the weather and mechanical difficulties with the Mantis tiller. We are seeing lots of greens from the garden so far. We have allowed the 'Honeoye' strawberries to put out the fruit, although we probably should have picked off the flower buds as they formed. The picking of strawberries into tiny buckets has been too much fun for my two-year old twin nephews. They already have the eat two pick one method down pat!


Three Sisters planting method: hilled corn interplanted with beans and squash. This is an idea I am also using in the family garden. The legume I chose was edible soybeans, edamame. I soaked them for a half an hour. I have since read this is a no-no. The germination was not was I had hoped. Hopefully we will have enough to get a taste and decide whether we would like to perfect our growing methods.

I loved these plots. Obviously, the gardeners who work and volunteer here do, too. Their tender care shows.

Transplants and Berries

One of the ideas in the garden this year is to develop perennial berry patches. My brother is actually going to build raised bed enclosures for blueberries, blackberries, and hazelnuts. The east side of the enclosures I figure will be an excellent place to grow spring peas and then later tie up the tomatoes and some Asian yard-long pole beans.

My brother is also going to build a number of raised beds. The raised beds are going to grow the salad bowl veggies and herbs. These beds are going to be the source of the very intensive garden and hopefully the only spots we will be intensively weeding as well.

My plan is to plant into thin black landscaping fabric tomatoes, zuchinni, squash, melons,and peppers. The garden is going to be laid out so that it can be cultivated with a tractor for the crops of which we will be growing significant amounts of potatoes, corn, cukes, carrots, and parsnips.

The perennial part of the garden is clustered on one side. There will be a Mount Royal plum, rhubarb, June-bearing and ever-bearing strawberry beds, July-bearing and fall-bearing raspberries, blackberies, hazelnuts, Northland and Blueray blueberries, Frontenac and Reliance grapes. I have a Lapin cherry, Honeycrisp apple, and Moorpark apricot in my own yard. My brother has a very old apple orchard he has been attempting to renovate. This is why I will not be spending a lot of time on the orchard part of our "Food Security Plan".

In the herb bed we will have chives, garlic chives, parsley, thyme, oregano, tarragon. I really like dill and the seed and vegetable producing Florence fennel. I already have chives to be moved into the garden, I have Italian flat-leaved parsley and Florence fennel starts growing in my grow light set up.

Transplants! I have Cayenne peppers and sweet red Carmen peppers. Tomatoes: Olpalka, Sweet 100, Super Beefsteak, Roma, Siberian, and Bloody Butcher. I really like Chocolate Cherry tomatoes and as they are an heirloom, I save seed each year. This year, I have not yet found my seed from last year, so I am a little worried I am not going to get those started this year.

I have spinach. I figure I could start them in the garden, but I can start haarvesting earlier if I have some starts. I also have the pointed Wakefield cabbage, Swiss Chard Primo Rossa. I will direct sow the Bright Lights variety. Also I have kale, savoy-type cabbages, Calabrese broccoli, and golden tomatillos.

Starting Seed

These irresistible seedlings would actually make a good microgreens mix.

They are the Jung's seed Triplet Hybrid Blend Cabbages.

There was very good germination. I used a seed starting tray with dome and heat mat. The soil is a blend of sandy loam, peat, and spaghum moss. The spaghum moss improves the aeration. The peat has natural anti-fungal properties, so I don't need to worry about any fungicidal drenches or damping off. Sandy loam is my native soil, so it gets tossed into my mix. I know where my soils have been versus buying something prepackaged. Even the peat is a local native soil, that I have sometimes seen packaged as Waupaca brand "topsoil" at Wal-Mart and sometimes Sears.

I fill my tray with my mixed soil. I plant my seed as per the directions. I go cell by cell and press the seed into the soil. It is important each seed make good contact with its germinating medium. I cover the seed as directed, and then carefully water. If the seed has something to it I use the sink sprayer. If not, I use a bottle mister.

I put the dome on and place it on the heat mat. If I am planting more than one seed in the tray, I pick plants that germinate in approximately the same length of time. When about 90% of the seeds are germinated, I remove from the mat, but leave the dome in place for a couple more days. Generally, I find seeds germinate more quickly and evenly on the mat than without.

After about 3 to 5 days I remove the dome lid. At that point, I need to keep a closer eye on watering.

When the cabbage have their first true leaves-- these are leaves 3 and 4, as you count, I prick them out and plant into their individual container. When pricking out, plant to the base of the true leaves.

I would recommend in zone 4, to start this cabbage variety between March 1 and March 15. Cabbage, because they are a member of the cole family, can be transplanted before the last frost date, provided they have been hardened off.