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</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3">6 2 20<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></font><font size="3">Cabbage Toil</font></font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
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</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Cabbages are a surprising species.</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Their leaf spread can be three feet or more.</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">From these outer leaves you can make kimchi.</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Getting them to grow takes toil in the soil.</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">They prefer fertile dirt with lots of loam.</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">They’re best when planted early in the year </font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">when gardeners dare not sow other plants </font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">for fear of loss owing to a late frost.</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Cabbages love cold, wet, dank weather,</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">before their dreaded enemy appears.</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Did you ever encounter cabbage worms?</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">There not very pretty to see.</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">They enter the scene when weather is warm,</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">after the time when heads start to grow.</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">They can be picked off and squashed to slime,</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">but it’s difficult to get them all.</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">They hide untouched at the base of the ball </font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">where they cannot be detected at all.</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">The worms about and inch-and-a-half long,</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">not a savory thing to behold.</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">They turn the cabbage to a gooey mess.</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">If lucky, you will harvest on time,</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">before they succeed in eating their fill.</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">The cabbage still has some tricks up its sleeve</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">The ball seems to develop overnight</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">and may be harvested by late May,</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">while the cabbage is still mostly there.</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">To pluck it is not an easy mission.</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">The outer leaves must first be torn away,</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">so one can use their leverage to twist.</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">If ever you’ve pulled a man from his head,</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">who is not in the mood for losing his top,</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">you have the awkward procedure down pat</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">So satisfying when finally done,</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">to feel the ball now loose in your hands.</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">After a series of crunching sounds,</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">a lovely, luscious five-pound cabbage.</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
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