Shawn Hansen likes to be sold out of his cabbage crop by Christmas.
The market garden he runs at Craven, Sask., is the province’s single biggest source of fresh cabbage. Hansen direct seeds 60 acres of cabbages, producing 1,500 tonnes. He uses different varieties to time the crop for steady delivery. Harvest starts in late July and runs to the end of October.
Hansen increased the cabbage acreage three years ago when he signed a contract with a major grocery store chain to deliver fresh product.
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The store wanted to source locally to get better service and quality. After Hansen’s storage bins empty out, the store buys American cabbage until his comes available again in the summer.
Hansen also uses 195 tonnes of his cabbage in Kissel Cabbage Corp., a family-run sister company. It turns the fresh heads into sour heads for making cabbage rolls and sauerkraut.
“Kissel has a pretty staunch following,” said Hansen, with sales growing one or two percent a year.
The three large-volume times of the year for pickled cabbage sales are Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter.
“Today’s generation goes back home and makes cabbage rolls with the family.”
Hansen said cabbage is one of the cheaper vegetables so growers don’t make as much as on them and their cole family relatives of broccoli and cauliflower.
But cabbage is a stable market.
Winnipeg vegetable wholesaler Peak of the Market goes through half a million pounds of cabbage a year, most of it sold to the fresh market, says chief executive officer Larry MacIntosh.
The 65-year-old farmer-owned co-op has some major grocery customers across the West, including Federated Co-op.
“More consumers are contacting us to ask for Manitoba or Canadian grown products,” said MacIntosh.
However, a grocery chain may prefer to buy American produce because of assured supply, even though Peak can supply local potatoes, carrots and onions year round.
MacIntosh said 95 percent of Peak’s produce travels by truck and finding drivers is becoming more of a challenge.
In the future, his co-op wants to find commodities that its growers can raise to make money. Two potential areas of growth are Asian vegetables and selling to the food service and restaurant industry.
Cabbage Salad
1/2 head GREEN CABBAGE, shredded
1 CARROT, shredded
1 CUCUMBER, sliced
2 GREEN ONIONS, diced
BLACK OLIVES (optional)
Vinaigrette
1/4 cup (125 mL) CANOLA OIL
2 tbsp. ORANGE JUICE
CONCENTRATE
1/4 cup (125 mL) SUGAR
1/4 cup (125 mL) VINEGAR
2 tbsp. (30 mL) MAPLE SYRUP
1 tsp. CHINESE FIVE SPICE
CELERY SEED
Nix that smell!
Cabbage is sometimes avoided because of its reputation for giving off strong smells or for causing gas and stomach upsets. These problems are due more to the cooking method than the cabbage itself.
When cabbage is overcooked in a lot of water at high temperatures, its sulfur compounds break down, causing odours and digestive upsets. But if it is steamed or stewed in a minimum of water at moderate temperatures for 10 to 15 minutes, or only until it is tender, these problems will not develop. Cabbage cooked by baking, sautéing or stir-frying is problem free.
Source: The Craft of the Country Cook, From A-Z: over 1,000 recipes & food ideas by Pat Katz, Hartley & Marks, Ltd., 1988
