Not that this vegetable needs the assistance of a fair competition to increase its popularity: cabbage has been a hit for centuries. Egyptians once worshipped it, and the Romans used it for medicinal purposes. Even today, Russian cuisine makes liberal use of cabbage, both in its raw form and when preserved as sauerkraut. With more than 2,000 years of such far-flung notoriety, no one has been able to pinpoint exactly where cabbage originated, but lucky for us, it is one vegetable that thrives in cool surroundings.

It is too late to start your cabbage from seed, as that was a March task. However, local greenhouses offer an abundance of varieties in pale green, deep green, bright red and purple. (There are also many loose-leaf types, such as the Chinese cabbages, as well as plenty of ornamentals, but today I am confining my discussion to edible head cabbage.)

If you plan to enter the contest at the fair, O-S Cross is a breed that can be pushed to reach the super-size weight division. Once you have finished the hardening-off stage, set your seedlings deeper than they were in the six pack or individual container, by placing them in almost to the first leaves, you add stability and protect the stems from frost. And don't just pop them out and then plop them into the soil: gently massage the roots and try to spread them out a bit in the hole.

Unless you have raised beds that allow for more intensive planting, or purposely want tiny heads that will be gone after serving two people one meal, space the seedlings at least 6 inches apart, in rows a foot away from each other. Be sure to tamp the soil down well, so that you eliminate any air pockets that could dry the roots. Like virtually every other vegetable, cabbage would prefer to live in soil that is rich and light. However, I have seen it tolerate soils of clay, as well as those that bear more than a passing resemblance to sand.

The more critical element seems to be what and how often the plants are fed--all brassicas grow with a speed that requires plenty of fuel. In my garden, this starts from the moment the seedling is being hardened-off. As exposure to the elements lengthens, thus increasing watering needs, I use a water soluble fertilizer that has been prepared with warm water. On the day of planting, each hole gets a handful of compost; in the years when I am short of that or aged horse droppings, I use purchased steer manure.

After the seedling is settled, I pour on more warm fertilizer. Three weeks into the season, I fertilize again, and then once more three weeks later. In years when I have an abundance of aged manure or compost with which to side-dress throughout the season, I may skip the second fertilizing. But never the first.

There are gardeners who grow their cabbages directly on top of their compost heaps, but I save that treat for my tomatoes. However, if you are vying for top honors in the Killer Cabbage competition, by all means top off your pile with some soil, set in those transplants and grow away.

Michele Hebert, of Cooperative Extension, suggested in a column last week that gardeners might want to experiment with another system: dig 3-foot holes, fill them with fresh manure until only 6 inches of the hole is left open, and top off the last half-foot with your regular soil. Set in the cabbages, and use a fertilizer during your weekly waterings.

The final prerequisite to success, whether entering the fair's contest or not, is to keep the moisture levels even--a sudden burst of watering after you have let the plant starve for water will often lead to split heads. And throughout June I always use warm water on all my vegetables, ladled out from 33-gallon plastic garbage cans that have been standing in the sun. I am not sure brassicas need such coddling, but I figure even crops that prefer cool soils find our dirt less than inviting.

If your crop starts coming in too rapidly for your immediate use, and you fear that the remainder will split and spoil before you are able to use or process it, there are a few tricks that will slow everything down. One is to take a sharp hoe or knife and shove it down sharply on two sides of the plant, deeply enough to sever some of the roots. Or, grasp the head firmly and make a small sharp twist, just enough to break some of the roots. It doesn't take much, as the roots are close to the surface (which means you should take extra care you don't inadvertently damage the roots when you are hoeing).

A light fall frost will not kill your cabbages, but harvest them before a really beastly one occurs. Cut the heads off with a sharp knife and store in a cool basement, encased in waxed paper. My grandmother used to pull up the entire plant, roots and all, and hang it upside down in the basement. This works well, although between the hanging tomatoes and bunched herbs, my rafters are about full by mid-September.