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February 20, 2008 : Brassica oleracea [Capitata Group] 'January King'

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Keywords: Brassicaceae | Brassica oleracea [Capitata Group] 'January King' | UBCBG Food Garden

Brassica oleracea [Capitata Group] 'January King'
Brassica oleracea [Capitata Group] 'January King'

Today's write-up is courtesy of Eric La Fountaine, as well as the first photograph (taken in mid-January 2008). The second photograph is one I took in early February 2005. Thanks, Eric!

The Brassicaceae, or mustard family is the source of more vegetables than any other plant family (source: Simpson, B.B., Ogorzaly, M.C. Economic Botany - Plants in Our World, 3rd ed., 1995). Brassica oleracea, native to the Mediterranean region, has been grown as a food crop for over 2500 years. People saved the seeds of their favourite plants for cultivation and reselection every year; over a relatively short period of time, this human selection process resulted in some of our most popular vegetables. This single species has been developed into kale, collard greens, kohlrabi, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts and today's BPotD feature, cabbage.

Cabbage was developed around the first century. It has become an important staple in many regions, as it is easy to grow, tolerant of cool climates, very nutritious, and amenable to long-term storage. The vegetable lends itself to pickling and was an important source of vitamin C during times when fresh produce was not readily available. Not only is cabbage high in vitamins and low in calories, recent research shows it to be rich in antioxidants, which help prevent cancers.

Posted by Daniel Mosquin at February 20, 2008 9:35 AM

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Comments

I'll add: having made sauerkraut perogies on the weekend (one of my top ten favourite foods), I will attest to the superior qualities of cabbage.

Posted by: Daniel Mosquin Author Profile Page at February 20, 2008 9:51 AM

Yum, that sounds delicious. Do you share recipes, too?

Posted by: Deb at February 20, 2008 10:36 AM

I might be able to track it down...

Posted by: Daniel Mosquin Author Profile Page at February 20, 2008 10:56 AM

I'd appreciate a copy of your sauerkraut perogies recipe. Great photoghaphs -- look good enough to eat!

Posted by: Knox at February 20, 2008 11:55 AM

Ha! I just watched the Good Eats episode on Broccoli and they did a cool opening segment with all the different vegetables that are botanically all the same plant!

Posted by: Eric in SF at February 20, 2008 7:23 PM

This is nice to see. Good food source and nice as a decorative addition to one's garden.
Thank you,
Margaret-Rae

Posted by: Margaret-Rae Davis at February 20, 2008 7:29 PM

the pictures are good enough to eat

Posted by: elizabeth a airhart at February 21, 2008 9:26 AM

Beautiful colors! Have seen green cabbage and red cabbage; have never seen red-and-green! Hooray for the brassicas!

And I, too, would love to have that recipe . . . are perogies the same as or related to pirozhki?

Posted by: Peggy at February 21, 2008 1:38 PM

It'll be a little bit before I get the recipe up - I think I'd prefer to do it accompanied with photographs...

Yes, all the same - many variant spellings.

Posted by: Daniel Mosquin Author Profile Page at February 21, 2008 2:14 PM

really cute

Posted by: jobi at July 16, 2009 11:08 PM

Please share your comments about the photograph(s) and accompanying write-up. Telling a story about the subject of the photograph(s) is also much appreciated! If you have a gardening question, the best place to ask is on the UBC Botanical Garden Forums. Thank you!

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Botany Photo of the Day is a project of the UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research, located in Vancouver, British Columbia Canada. UBC BGCPR is a department of the Faculty of Land and Food Systems within The University of British Columbia.