Lucky Leaves

For some, a long-standing tradition at the start of the year is to eat the humble vegetable cabbage, which signifies good luck, wealth and prosperity. The green leaves symbolize money, while the round shape is akin to coins or completeness.

To learn more about cabbage, we travel to the ancestral home of my dear, departed maternal grandmother – the “old country,” Poland. There, we meet a long-lost distant relative named Kidd Kapusta, who is coincidentally outstanding in his field of prize-winning cabbages. After sharing several glasses of Kapusta’s homemade sauerkraut juice, he explained that cabbage is one of the most nutritious vegetables. It is a hearty, simple food that represents basic resources, rustic life, contentment with what one has, and productivity as a winter vegetable.

Different cabbages have been grown and cultivated for more than 4,000 years. They are part of the Brassica family. Cabbage and its relatives – broccoli, cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts and kohlrabi – originated from the wild Brassica oleracea plant. The plant’s terminal bud led to head cabbage, while lateral buds led to Brussels sprouts, developed about 500 years ago. A selection of leaves resulted in kale.

Cabbage grows in several unique and tasty varieties, including green, red or purple, savoy (wrinkled), napa, kale (leaf cabbage) and bok choy (Chinese cabbage). The word cabbage comes from the French “caboche,” with Latin origins in “caput,” meaning head.

Cabbage is a stick-to-your-ribs, healthy food enjoyed raw, cooked, fermented or pickled. This latter form helped prevent the dreaded disease scurvy aboard maritime sailing ships in the 1600s.

Cabbage is high in dietary fiber, vitamins and minerals, contains anti-aging and anticancer phytochemicals, and is low in saturated fats and cholesterol. Cabbage leaves have also been believed to cure baldness. Famous baseball player Babe Ruth reportedly lined his cap with cabbage leaves. Other acclaimed remedies include a cure for hangovers – either cabbage juice or cabbage soup to combat the “hair of the dog.”

Cabbage plants require insects for cross-pollination to produce seeds and cannot self-pollinate.

In closing, my Polish relative Kidd Kapusta shared that the largest cabbage on record weighed 138 pounds and was grown in Palmer, Alaska, by Scott Robb. With that, we now know why cabbage is truly considered a bringer of good luck – and why it is wise to eat it.

Big year for broccolini

Check out a new vegetable of the year for 2026: broccolini. It is a hybrid vegetable, a cross between broccoli and Chinese kale, developed in Japan. It has long, slender stalks, smaller florets and leaves, and a sweeter, milder flavor than regular broccoli. The entire plant is edible, with a delicate texture and nutty, sweet taste. It is not “baby broccoli,” but a distinct hybrid, and it is not genetically modified.

Knock, knock. Who’s there? Noah. Noah who? Noah better way to start the year than with you, readers.

Until next time – peace.