For a fall crop you should plant Michihili cabbage in August

After visiting a museum, a Scottish couple realized that the fine porcelain vase they were using as a lamp stand might be something after all.

The vase was from the Ming Dynasty which used cobalt imported from Iran to create deep blue colors even after the pottery was fired in a kiln. The Ming Dynasty gave gardeners a precious gift as well, a type of cabbage that Ming Dynasty naturalist Li Shizhen encouraged people all over Northern Europe to grow for its food value as well as medicinal qualities.

This is Chinese Cabbage, specifically the Napa cabbage Michihili (Brassica pekinensis). This is a cabbage so tender that you can eat it raw, much like Romaine lettuce in salads and sandwiches.

Of course, you can steam or stir fry the healthy greens much as you would any cabbage. You can also pickle the leaves.

Michihili cabbage grows into elongated, upright heads that can reach up to 24 inches tall. The heads are shaped more like a cylinder than a ball. The crinkled outer leaves are a pale green that fades to a creamy white at the center of each head.

Cabbage grows best in cool weather and can even endure a light frost. For a fall crop, you should plant Michihili cabbage in August. Michihili cabbage tolerates warmer conditions better than most other types of cabbage.

Plant the tiny seeds directly in the garden. Cover the seeds with about a half inch of soil. Thin the plants to stand about a foot apart. In five to 10 days, the seeds will sprout. It is important that you never let the seedbed dry out or the seedlings will fry in the August sun. You can even position branches or netting to give the seedbed additional shade.

Seeds are available at local nurseries or from specialty seed companies such as Kitazawa Seed Company (201 4th St., #206, Oakland, CA 94607, phone 510-595-1188) or Victory Seeds (www.victoryseeds.com, phone 503-829-3126).

As the cabbage grows, giving it a regular watering will keep the leaves tender and discourage the plant form “bolting” or going to seed.

Planting chamomile and garlic next to Michihili cabbage is said to improve the flavor. To deter cabbage moth, plant sage, catnip, hyssop, and rosemary nearby. And thyme is said to repel cabbage cutworms.

One nice thing about growing cabbage from seeds is that when you thin the plants to stand a foot apart, you can eat the plants you thin as baby leaves.

When you harvest the full heads, leave the base of the plant in the soil and you can get two or even three cuttings from your one-time planting.

So, take advantage of a cool morning in August to plant flavorful healthy Michihili cabbage. It might just bring you health and good fortune. After all, that Scottish couple with the Ming vase they used as a lamp stand? They sold it at auction, and since then, the vase has been sold several times fetching as much as $10 million.