The story
From cabbage + town. * (Toronto): From the 19th-century, when mid-century immigrants from Ireland and the Balkans started growing cabbages in their front yards. * (Atlanta): From the post-Reconstruction Era, when late-19th-century Appalachian newcomers of Scots-Irish descent moved in, and started growing cabbages in their front yards.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.