Failed Purple Cabbage

I saw some cabbage that my friend had grown in Saskatoon last year that turned out great, so I decided to plant it this year. I thought that it would do well because cabbages are hearty and could stand up to the Saskatchewan weather.
Above is a picture of my purple cabbage when I first planted it and the next picture is after a flock of sparrows came down and ate my purple cabbage to the bone. Every time a new leaf would form the birds would peck it. In the first picture it looks so young and purple and promising and in the next it looks so haggard and beaten down, it made me feel bad. Next year I will cover them. I tried tying the outside leaves up over the center to protect the middle but they ate around the string.

I read a post on Michael Rhulman’s blog about a sour dough starter that he made from an organic purple cabbage leaf. I left my starter in Vancouver, it was a good one and I was sad when I realized what I had done. It was from a pastry friend and Lidbin and I named the starter Black Betty, it was 3 years old but Myra said it was funny tasting so, I got some of Lidbin’s starter (Amelie) that she got from Joachim at Boneta. I named it Goldie Bambi and that is the one that got left behind. I was going to use my cabbage to start one, but now will have to use somthing else. The important thing to me is that is be a Saskatoon starter. I want natural yeasts unique to the area. I might try some rhubarb that is still kicking in my backyard.