Growing Cabbages

Although they take a while to grow and some patience, home grown cabbages taste great and are good for you. So give growing cabbages a go, from seed, or seedlings, maybe try a few in the garden border.

Cabbages grow during the winter and are rich in vitamins C,A and B. They are also a great source of fibre. Green Cabbage is the most important ingredient of coleslaw. Savoy Cabbage is the cabbage used in Italian cooking, more tender and sweeter than the green cabbage. Red Cabbage is good for stir fry, or salad. Chinese Cabbage or Napa Cabbage is used in soups, stir fry and eaten raw in salads.

Cabbage Varieties

• Green Cabbage – Commonly grown type with smooth leaves, dense and tight growing.
• Red Cabbage – The red colour and a spicy taste are the distinguishing features
• Savoy Cabbage – Very widely grown this is a large cabbage with textured leaves, looser leaves than others
• Wombok – This is the Chinese cabbage, great in stir fries as well as in asian salads.

Grow your own Cabbages

Cabbages are not difficult to grow and provide a nutritious ingredient for many dishes. As cabbage seeds tend to not last we suggest growing from seedlings, if you do grow from seeds try to sow around 2cm deep for good germination.

Generally you can plant two crops, one in early autumn, one in late winter.

Some varieties grow better during the cold month than others so look for those in the cooler areas.

• Plant seedlings directly into a well prepared soil.
• Seedlings can be started indoors, or in a cold frame 1 month before planting out.
• Water in seedlings with a liquid seaweed fertiliser.
• Thin to around 70 cm apart depending on the variety, some are larger growing than others.
• From planting out to harvest is generally around 12 weeks.
• Try planting a few individual plants in the garden border as a winter ‘filler’.

To avoid problems with Cabbage Moth, try planting Bittercress around the plants. This also works with Kale.

Cabbages prefer a cool climate, plant cabbages in spring for summer / autumn harvesting and autumn for a winter / spring harvesting. Cabbages need to be rotated, plant in different beds each year. Cabbages can be grown from seeds or seedlings. Like most vegetable a humus rich well drained soil is best. Keep moist. Chinese Cabbages includes Wong Bok and Michihili.

Cabbage seeds are available from the following suppliers.