Jersey cabbage

{{Infobox cultivar

| name = Jersey cabbage

| species = Brassica oleracea longata

| image = Tree cabbage.jpg

| image_caption = Jersey cabbage can be cultivated to grow quite large, especially in frost-free climates

| image_alt = A small tree with large leaves

}}

File:B%C3%A2tons_d%27chour.jpg

File:Jersey kale 1836.jpg

The Jersey cabbage (Brassica oleracea longata) is a variety of cabbage native to the Channel Islands that grows to a great height and was formerly commonly used there as livestock fodder and for making walking sticks. It is also known as Jersey kale or cow cabbage,{{cite news |title=Giant cabbage |url=http://jerseyeveningpost.com/island-life/history-heritage/giant-cabbage/ |access-date=3 June 2014 |date=3 June 2014 |work=Jersey Evening Post |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140606222118/http://jerseyeveningpost.com/island-life/history-heritage/giant-cabbage/ |archive-date=2014-06-06}} and by a variety of local names including giant cabbage, long jacks, tree cabbage and the French chour and chou à vacque.

The 'Jersey cabbage' develops a long stalk, commonly reaching {{convert|6|to|10|ft|m}} in height, and can grow as tall as {{convert|18|to|20|ft|m}}.{{cite book |last=Hessayon |first=D. G. |author-link = D. G. Hessayon|title=The Bedside Book of the Garden |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vkWJXKt7lbIC&pg=PA268 |year=2008 |publisher=Sterling |isbn=9780903505697 |page=268}} Historically the stalks were made into walking sticks, of which 30,000 a year were being sold by the early 20th century, many for export.{{cite journal|last1=Prendergast|first1=Hew D. V.|last2=Rumball |first2=Naomi |year=2000|title=Walking Sticks as Seed Savers: The Case of the Jersey Kale [Brassica Oleracea L. Convar. Acephala (DC.) Alef. Var. Viridis L.]|journal=Economic Botany|volume=54|issue=2|pages=141–43|jstor=4256285 |doi=10.1007/bf02907817}}; republished [http://www.kew.org/collections/ecbot/pages/wp-content/media/papers/rumball_stick_2000.pdf Plant Portraits], Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (pdf){{cite book|last=Ayto|first=John|title=The Diner's Dictionary: Word Origins of Food and Drink|url=https://archive.org/details/dinersdictionary0000ayto|url-access=registration|year=2012|publisher=Oxford UP|isbn=9780199640249|page=[https://archive.org/details/dinersdictionary0000ayto/page/187 187]}} They were also used for fencing and as rafters.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1350&dat=19430429&id=J-ROAAAAIBAJ&sjid=rf8DAAAAIBAJ&pg=3697,4579365 |title=Raw Cabbage Gives Supply of Vitamins and Minerals |author=Uncle Ray |newspaper=Toledo Blade |date=April 29, 1943 |page=35 }} Much of the stalk is bare; the islanders stripped leaves to accentuate this effect and induce it to grow without twisting,{{cite news|url=http://www.forteantimes.com/features/commentary/438/king_of_the_cabbages.html |title=King of the Cabbages |last=Chambers |first=Paul |date=November 2006 |work=Fortean Times |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070627211554/http://www.forteantimes.com/features/commentary/438/king_of_the_cabbages.html |archive-date=2007-06-27 }} varnished the stalk, and created a handle either by heat-treating and bending the root end or by planting at an angle to produce a naturally bent root.

The lower leaves were fed to livestockPhilip Miller {{google books|Kl8DAAAAQAAJ|The Gardeners Dictionary, Volume 1, 9th Edition, 1835|page=208}} (one variety in Portugal was grown specifically for the purpose{{cite book|last=Crawfurd|title=Reports from Her Majesty's Consuls on the Manufactures, Commerce, &c. of Their Consular Districts|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ld_NAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA643 |year=1870|publisher=Harrison and sons|pages=629–57|chapter=Portugal}}), and were reportedly of great value: The Farmer's Magazine stated in 1836 that five plants would support 100 sheep or 10 cows, and sheep fed them were rumoured to produce silky wool up to {{convert|25|in|cm}} in length. The open cabbage at the top is comparatively small:{{cite book|last=Sturtevant|first=Edward Lewis|author-link=Edward Lewis Sturtevant|editor=U. P. Hedrick |title=Annual Report of the Department of Agriculture: Sturtevant's Notes on Edible Plants|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7RA4AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA112 |year=1919 |publisher=New York Department of Agriculture|page=112}} "the size of the cabbages at the top was so infinitesimal that one seemed forced to the conviction that nature meant them to be stalks, not cabbages".{{cite news|last=Edwardes|first=Charles|title=Channel Islands |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bpo2AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA790 |year=1896|newspaper=The New Age|pages=789–99}}

The plant is now rarely grown in the Channel Islands,{{cite journal |last=Thacker |first=Christopher |title=Editorial: Brassica oleraca longata (Acephala group) |journal=The Garden History Society Newsletter |doi=10.2307/1586259 |jstor=1586259 |date=November 1971 |volume=15 |issue=15 |page=2 }} except for feeding rabbits although it is still cultivated for walking sticks by Philip and Jacquelyn Johnson,{{Cite web|url=http://www.homestill.co.uk |title=Jersey Cabbage Sticks |last=Johnson |first=Philip |date=2016 |website=www.homestill.co.uk }} who were shown on the BBC One series Countryfile in January 2010.{{cite web |url=http://www.jersey.com/business/marketing/News/Pages/NewsDetails.aspx?NewsItemId=40 |title=BBC Countryfile 22|01|2010 |publisher=Jersey.com |access-date=3 June 2014 |archive-date=6 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140606234518/http://www.jersey.com/business/marketing/News/Pages/NewsDetails.aspx?NewsItemId=40 |url-status=dead }}