A story about cabbage for children, grades 1-3
Dear Guys! Try to guess the riddle: “One hundred clothes and all without fasteners.” You guessed right! This is cabbage.
Let's remember what a head of cabbage looks like. It is large, round, and looks like a head.
By the way, the name “cabbage” comes from the ancient Roman word “kaput”, which means “head”.
Listen to the poem.
Young cabbage
The leaves are curling.
It will become round like a ball,
Big as a head.
A head of cabbage consists of light green, large, smooth leaves, tightly pressed together. In the very core of the head of cabbage there is a dense, large stalk.
Cabbage has been known to people since time immemorial. Even primitive people used it as a food product. Of course, it was wild cabbage with a tall stem and a small number of straight leaves that did not curl into a head. Wild cabbage still grows on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. And cabbage cultivation began five thousand years BC. It was first grown in Spain, from where this vegetable crop came to other countries.
How did wild cabbage turn into a cultivated plant with large, juicy leaves?
To get large emerald green heads of cabbage, people had to work hard: select the largest seeds, plant them in well-fertilized, moist soil in the lowlands, in flooded meadows, along the banks of rivers and lakes, and water the seedlings abundantly.
Do you know, dear guys, that a head of cabbage is not a cabbage fruit at all? After all, the fruit certainly contains seeds, but a head of cabbage does not contain them.
Where does the cunning cabbage hide its seeds?
To find out, you need to plant a cabbage stalk and root in the ground in the spring. It will grow into tall stems decorated with clusters of yellow flowers. Bumblebees and bees hover around them, collecting nectar and carrying pollen from flower to flower, pollinating the cabbage. In autumn, instead of flowers, fruits are formed - pods with round seeds.
The greatest botanist of antiquity, Theophrastus, wrote about how to grow cabbage.
The famous Greek mathematician Pythagoras wrote: “Cabbage is a vegetable that maintains cheerfulness and a cheerful, calm mood.”
Cabbage received wide recognition and love in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. The Greeks highly valued the medicinal properties of cabbage and believed that it healed diseases and healed wounds.
The ancient Romans treated cabbage and its juice for many ailments: headaches, stomach diseases, insomnia.
The ancient Roman sage Cato left the following notes about cabbage: “Eat it raw or boiled. If you want to eat it raw, then soak it in vinegar, after which it becomes digestible and healthy. It’s very beneficial to eat a little cabbage before lunch and then after lunch.”
Ancient Egyptians served boiled cabbage as a sweet dish after dinner.
In Rus', cabbage has been one of the favorite and most common vegetables for a long time. It began to be cultivated in vegetable gardens in the 9th century. Foreigners who came to Moscow were amazed at the Slavs’ love for cabbage and its abundance. One of the travelers wrote: “In Muscovy, ordinary white cabbage grows, which the Russians stock up on in large quantities and which the common people eat twice a day.”
The following sayings speak about the people’s love for cabbage: “Why bother with a garden if you don’t plant cabbage”, “Not a single mouth can live without cabbage”, “Bread and cabbage will not be tolerated”, “Cabbage is not empty, it flies to mouth".
When planting cabbage, the peasants usually said: “Don’t be long-legged - be pot-bellied, don’t be empty - be tight, don’t be red - be tasty, don’t be old - be young, don’t be small - be big.”
The first head of cabbage was covered with a large pot, and then with a white tablecloth, so that the forks grew tight, juicy and white.
In the old days, peasants also knew various tricks to protect cabbage from pests. Nettles were planted in the corners of the beds and they said: “Nettles are for the worms, and cabbage is for us.” To prevent cabbage butterflies from appearing in the garden, flaxseed was scattered between the beds, the smell of which drove away insects.
Serving boiled cabbage to the table, the hostess said:
The cabbage curled into a head of cabbage -
Sharovita, curly,
There is a bald spot on the top of the head,
Eat healthy!
Cabbage is usually harvested in October, with the first frost. No wonder they say: “The cabbage is the last one to leave the garden.” And in mid-October, good housewives usually ferment cabbage, hence the saying: “September smelled like apples, and October smelled like cabbage.”
Fermentation of cabbage was accompanied in Rus' by cheerful “cabbage parties” - parties in honor of cabbage.
The girls dressed up, went around all the houses singing and helped the owners chop cabbage. A little later, young men appeared with gifts for the owners and their assistants. The hostess baked a pie with cabbage and treated it to the guests.
Cabbage cutting ended with round dances, comic songs and dances.
Why do you think people love cabbage so much before and now?
Right! Because it is tasty and healthy. It contains a lot of mineral salts, sugars, and vitamins. The most useful substances are contained in the stalk. But carotene, a growth vitamin, is found in the outer greenish leaves. In addition, cabbage is unpretentious, “a hundred clothes” protect it from the cold, it produces good yields, and the heads of cabbage can be stored for a long time. This allows you to eat fresh cabbage all year round.
The most common variety of cabbage is white cabbage. It is usually grown by seedlings, and only in the southern regions are the seeds sown directly into the ground.
Cabbage loves light and moisture and needs to be watered frequently, especially during head formation.
Listen to the poem.
Summer rain
Summer rain with a soft paw
Stroking vegetables in the garden.
He only touches the cabbage,
How the cabbage perks up:
The leaves are white and succulent
Curls into heads of cabbage.
They ask for onions and celery:
“Give us something to drink quickly!”
Peas reach for the streams:
“Without water, I’m completely dry!”
The blessed rain is warm
They greedily drink carrots and beets,
And rosy tomatoes
And a springy lettuce leaf.
The streams gurgle merrily,
And the wet garden sparkles,
The garden comes to life -
Everything about him is growing rapidly!
Let's continue talking about cabbage varieties. You already know one - white cabbage. Red cabbage is the sister of white cabbage. Its heads of cabbage are very dense, red-violet in color. It contains more vitamin C, is more nutritious and stores better than white cabbage.
Many of you love to eat boiled or fried cauliflower. Cauliflower is an annual plant. It forms inflorescences, which we eat. For a long time, cauliflower did not grow in Europe and was very expensive. That's why the English still say: “The best of flowers are cabbage flowers.” In fact, cauliflower is very tender, tasty, and contains a lot of vitamins.
Answer the questions
What does a head of cabbage look like?
What ancient Roman word does the word “cabbage” come from? What does it mean?
Where does wild cabbage grow?
Why was cabbage valued in ancient times?
What were cabbage parties called in Rus'?
What beneficial substances does cabbage contain?
What varieties of cabbage do you know?
What dishes are prepared from cabbage?
