Growing cabbage begins by sowing the seeds

The majority of the world’s white cabbage seeds are cultivated in the Netherlands. That is also the origin of the seeds used by Vaissi Oy’s farmers, and some of the farmers even order seedlings from there. In late April, the farmers sow the seeds in seedbeds, which they then cover with vermiculite. The seedbeds are moved to greenhouses, where the conditions are suitably warm and humid for germination to begin.

Planting in May

When the seedlings have reached the right size in late May, they are planted into ground, which has been prepared and fertilised appropriately. Planting is carried out by machines. After this, the growth of the seedlings is monitored and agricultural tasks are performed during the summer growing season: spraying and rooting out weeds and performing pest control against, for example, the cabbage fly, diamondback moth and true bugs.

Gentle harvesting required

Harvesting takes place in August and September. Cabbages are harvested manually using a knife, although some machinery and other solutions facilitating the work have been developed. Cabbages must be harvested gently to avoid damaging them. Gentle harvesting improves the preservability of cabbage. At best, cabbage species intended for storage will keep for several months at 0 degrees Celsius.

Cabbage is healthy

Cabbage contains large amounts of vitamin C and calcium. Cabbage dishes are both delicious and healthy. Several diets favour cabbage, since it is rich in nutrients but does not contain much energy.

Cabbage can be turned into tasty and healthy dishes. Below is Saara Ampiala-Vaissi’s cabbage pie recipe.

Try it and enjoy!

Saara’s cabbage pie Easy version: Buy puff pastry from a shop. For ambitious bakers:

Prepare your own quark puff pastry base:
Quark puff pastry
2 cups (500 g) of quark
500 g of soft butter
500 g (8 dl) of wheat flour
2 tsp of baking powder.

Mix the quark with the butter. Add the dry ingredients. Mix until smooth. Allow to set in the fridge.

Filling:
About 1½ kg of cabbage
2 big onions
2 tbsp of butter
1–2 cups of sour cream
1 bag of mushroom soup

Shred the cabbage using a slicer and chop the onions. Fry the cabbage and onion lightly in butter. Add the rest of the ingredients. Allow to simmer for 10 min.

Roll the puff pastry into two sheets the size of an oven pan, or shape the ready-made puff pastry into two sheets of the same size. Lift the bottom sheet onto baking paper in the oven pan. Spread the filling. Cover the pie with the cover sheet. Apply egg on the pie and pick it with a fork. Bake at 200 degrees for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!