Grow your own walking stick

Our friend Steve once had a colorful collection of canes and walking sticks. And that made him not only a bit eccentric, but a full-blown rabologist. A rabologist of course is simply a collector of walking sticks. Walking sticks once housed secret compartments with such novelties as built-in flasks or sharp knives, and even small derringers. Walking sticks are making a bit of a comeback as more of us hit the pavement walking and hiking. A good walking stick is handy not only for support, but to fend off wild dogs or just flag down a passing friend..

You can grow your own walking stick in just a few months, not from wood but from a cabbage! This is no ordinary cabbage, but one that can grow a main stalk up to nine feet tall with a clump of kale or cabbage at the top. Famously grown in the Channel Islands, this heirloom cabbage, or kale, is often called walking stick cabbage (Brassica oleracea longata). The mature stems are cut, dried and varnished to make charming walking sticks. Historically these walking sticks became a hallmark of the Channel Islands, and as many as 30,000 a year were sold to tourists and exported.

Plant walking stick cabbage in spring as soon as the ground can be worked, as long as the soil has warmed up to about 50 degrees.

Choose a spot with deep, rich soil and good drainage. They do best with a soil pH between 6.5 and 7.0. If your soil is too acidic cabbages can develop a disease called club root.

Sow the seeds one quarter-inch deep, about four inches apart in rows at least two feet apart. Apply a good organic fertilizer such as fish emulsion every few weeks.

Seeds are available from many specialty seedhouses such as Nichols Garden Nursery (www.nicholsgardennursery.com or phone 800-422-3985).

Once the plants are up and growing, thin so they stand 12 to 18 inches apart. As your walking stick cabbages begin to shoot upward you may want to stake them so they don’t topple over. Rather than planting a single row, if you plant several rows in a block the cabbages can support each other.

The weight of these tall stems cause the stalks to bend at ground level, with this crook forming the handle of your walking stick. You can let nature take its course or help it along by digging a deep furrow under the bend in the stalk. Be sure to cover any roots with soil.

Let the stalks die in the garden and harden before cutting. Harvest your walking sticks by cutting the plants very low at the base. Let them air dry out of direct sun and rain.

They can take up to six months or more to completely dry. After the sticks are thoroughly dried you can cut them to walking stick height. You can varnish the sticks for a more attractive look.

Once your walking sticks are finished you can add a tiny cap, or ferrule, to the tip.

Grow your own walking stick cabbage, and you too can rightfully be called a rabologist, flask not included.