Cabbage is typically harvested in the fall, especially if it's a late-season variety. The head, along with the top portion of the stalk, is stored or processed, while the roots and adjacent, dense stem are discarded or composted. However, when harvesting, the roots and stalks can be left in the ground for the winter, rather than uprooted.
Why you shouldn't remove cabbage roots and stalks from your garden beds
After harvesting vegetables, it's common to discard the remaining tops and roots or compost them. This is also true for cabbage, which is harvested just before the first frost. Large heads can weigh up to 10 kg or more. To ensure good storage, don't trim the cabbage stalks right down to the base; instead, use a knife or small hatchet to chop through the thick stem. This method leaves the roots and the lower part of the stalk in the ground.
Some gardeners recommend leaving the roots and stalks directly in the beds until spring, without digging them up. Over the winter, the root system rots completely, and the dense stem has time to rot, after which it can be added to the compost bin. Another reason to leave the remains of the plant is because the roots are excellent food for worms, beneficial insects. Worms are good at loosening the soil. The benefits of cabbage remains can be compared to sowing green manure before winter.
Gardeners have found another advantage to this approach to autumn garden cleanup. They believe that cabbage stalks left in the garden serve as food for hares. If the winter is cold and snowy, the rodents will inevitably appear. But instead of gnawing on the trees, they'll start munching on the cabbage scraps.
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Possible harm
When deciding what to leave in the field and what to leave out, several factors need to be considered. Despite some advantages, failing to harvest cabbage roots and stalks for the winter can lead to problems:
- infestation with cabbage aphids and other pests;
- additional attraction of rodents;
- difficulties when digging the area.
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If vegetables are grown in a large field that is mechanized annually, it can sometimes be difficult to leave a section (located in the center, not at the edge) untouched. Plowing the entire area with a machine and then separately digging up the cabbage bed with a shovel is tedious.
Only parts of healthy crops should be left over the winter. If the cabbage shows signs of aphid or clubroot (fungus) infestation, the roots and stalks should not only be removed, but also burned or taken off-site. Some insects overwinter well in cabbage heads. This minimizes the chances of growing a healthy crop the following year.
Diverting rodents' attention is a controversial issue. Hares do readily eat cabbage, leaving the tree bark alone. However, it's undeniable that the cabbage stalks attract them to the garden. Some gardeners have reported that cabbage scraps left in the field have become a bait for mice. In some regions, the benefit of such incomplete harvesting is questionable. The main purpose of leaving the lower parts of vegetables is to improve the soil structure. However, if frosts arrive early in the region and winters are very cold, the soil will freeze solid. In this case, worming is out of the question.
Cabbage roots and stalks can be left in the garden over the winter. They feed beneficial insects, loosening the soil. The benefits are obvious, and the effect is almost the same as using green manure. However, it's important to understand that only healthy parts of vegetable crops, not diseased ones, should be left over the winter.
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