Garden Surprise!

This year we decided to grow something new in the garden. We chose to try out cauliflower since we all like it (yes even my kids!) and our broccoli grew so well over the years. I didn't have time to start from seed so we went to the Walmart greenhouse and picked out a nice flat. We planted them and sure enough they took off and seemed to just love our yard.

Such nice healthy plants! Big beautiful leaves of a pale gray green. I loved looking at them as much as the caterpillars seem to like munching on them. Shaelynn and I would collect the tiny green caterpillars and keep them in a jar. We fed them the outer older leaves from the plants and would watch them pupate and turn into pretty little yellow butterflies. Shaelynn would promptly name them and then set them free.















Yesterday it seemed time to harvest as they have been in the ground a good 12 weeks and I noticed a nice tight large (soccer ball size) head forming in the center of one of the plants. I decided I had better try to take a peek inside to see if the florets were ready to pick so I began to remove leaves from the outside. When I got to about leaf 7 I decided they were never going to end. The leaves got more compact instead of giving away to a head of cauliflower. What was wrong with my cauliflower plants? Had I done something wrong? I ran in the house and consulted my square foot gardening book and clearly I was not growing what I thought I was.

Walmart must have mislabeled their plants. I have 12 cabbage plants on my hands! Cabbage? YUCK! I hate coleslaw and that is about as far as my knowledge of eating cabbage ran. What was I going to do with all this cabbage? I cut a head and went in to show Shane. I just knew he was going to be as sad as I was. Boy was I wrong. He exclaimed how much he loved boiled cabbage smothered in butter and topped with salt and pepper. Eww. I was put off and wrapped the head up and placed it in the fridge as it wasn't going to fit in with that evenings dinner plans.

Well tonight I marinated and barbecued some chicken tenders, cooked some rolls, corn and you guessed it, the cabbage. It smelled up the house a little but then so does our broccoli. The kids started asking what smelled like broccoli. I told them it was cabbage for Dad. They immediately wanted to taste it. We put lots of sweet cream butter and salt and pepper on it and to my surprise I liked it and ate quite a bit. Cory liked it enough he had seconds. Shaelynn loved it and had thirds!

Yes, I guess I have strange kids. How many other people can say their kids love fresh broccoli and cabbage from the garden and even eat seconds and thirds of the stuff?

I guess next year we will have to try out the cauliflower but with what a hit the cabbage is we will have to grow it again as well.

Now if I could just get all my tomatoes to ripen! It's August for crying out loud and they are still green!