CabbageBrassica oleracea var. capitata

The headed cabbage asks for full sun and deep, heavy, moist soil: our clays and loams, which it appreciates more than any other vegetable, are an asset rather than a handicap. It likes open beds, without cast shade, and tolerates wind better than cauliflower, provided it is well firmed in. Apply a strict rotation of four to five years without any brassica, including radishes, turnips, rocket and mustard green manure, to keep clubroot at bay. It follows on perfectly from peas, broad beans or early potatoes, whose place it takes from July.

Manure the previous autumn: four to five kilos of composted manure or mature compost per square metre, worked in to twenty-five centimetres. Fresh manure in spring gives soft heads and attracts pests. On acid soil, lime at the same time, one hundred grams of magnesian lime per square metre, every three years, which limits clubroot and suits the cabbage, which prefers a pH close to 7. In spring, fork over, remove perennial weeds and firm the surface with the rake, then leave for two weeks: cabbages want a settled soil, into which they can be firmed hard.

Each type has its date. Pointed cabbages and small summer cabbages, such as Cœur de bœuf, are sown in February-March under a cold frame and planted in April for a June-July harvest. Autumn cabbages, green, red or Savoy, are sown in an outdoor seedbed from April to May and planted in June-July. Large winter and sauerkraut cabbages are sown in May and planted in July. Spring cabbages, finally, are sown around 15 August, planted in late September, overwinter in place and head up in May. Sow thinly, one centimetre deep, in rows ten centimetres apart.

Thin the seedbed to five centimetres as soon as the seedlings are up or prick out into eight-centimetre pots at the two-true-leaf stage, burying up to the seed leaves. A plant that is ready is six to eight weeks old, with five or six leaves, a short stem purplish at the base, a sign of vigour, and roots filling the pot. Keep the seedbed under insect-proof mesh from sowing against flea beetles and the cabbage root fly, in the light, watered regularly. A plant that has sat too long in its pot, yellow and leggy, gives a cabbage that never heads up: plant on time or buy module plants from a garden centre.

Plant in overcast weather, in soil watered the day before, spacing fifty centimetres for summer and spring cabbages, sixty to seventy for large autumn and winter cabbages. Bury each plant up to the first leaves, in a hole made with a trowel, and firm vigorously around the stem with the handle of the tool or your heel: a well-planted cabbage holds when you tug on a leaf. Water three litres per plant into a basin. Fit a cardboard collar against the cabbage root fly and cover with insect-proof mesh over hoops until September.

The headed cabbage accepts a large container of thirty litres and forty centimetres deep per plant, filled with potting compost enriched with a third of garden compost and well firmed. Prefer small pointed cabbages or compact varieties such as Marché de Copenhague, planted in April or July. Place the container in full sun, water every day in summer, feed with plant liquid every fortnight. A fleece thrown over the container protects against the cabbage white, very common in town. The heads will be more modest than in the garden, but a freshly cut balcony cabbage in June is a real satisfaction.

Planting loosely, without firming, is mistake number one: the cabbage rocks about, roots badly and does not head up. Planting close, at thirty centimetres, gives leaves and no heads. Forgetting the collar loses one plant in three to the root fly in May. Believing that mesh is unnecessary costs all the foliage to the cabbage white in August. Neglecting watering in July and then watering heavily splits the heads. Finally, planting cabbages every year in the same square, for lack of space, establishes clubroot, against which there is no cure: better to skip a year.

After planting, water every two or three days for two weeks, then ten to fifteen litres per square metre once a week in summer in dry weather, at the base and in the morning. Regularity matters more than quantity: a head that suddenly receives a lot of water after a dry spell, or a heavy August downpour, splits. If rain threatens a ripe head, take the cabbage in both hands and give it a quarter turn to break some of the roots: uptake slows and the head holds. From October, rain is enough; winter cabbages need nothing more.

A month after planting, mulch thickly, eight to ten centimetres of straw, dried grass clippings or leaves, keeping the collar clear. This keeps the soil cool, prevents our loams from crusting and holds back weeds. Feed with nettle or comfrey liquid diluted to 10 %, once a month from June to August, one watering can for two plants, and a handful of mature compost per plant in July. Stop all feeding as soon as the head forms: too much nitrogen at the end of the crop gives loose heads that rot in the cellar and attract aphids. Winter cabbages are not fed after August.

Three to four weeks after planting, hoe, then draw five centimetres of soil against the stem: the cabbage anchors itself firmly and puts out adventitious roots. Repeat in late summer for winter cabbages, which must hold up under wind and snow. Remove yellow or rotten leaves from the base as you go, to let air in and deprive slugs and aphids of their shelter. Never cut the large green leaves; they feed the head. For spring cabbages overwintered in place, earth up in March and add a little compost to restart growth.

The cabbage white lays from June to September under the leaves: insect-proof mesh over hoops is the only real protection; failing that, inspect every week, crush the clusters of yellow eggs and pick off the caterpillars. Mealy cabbage aphids form grey colonies in the heart of the leaves: hose them off, spray soft soap diluted to 5 %, remove infested leaves, plant nasturtiums alongside. Against the cabbage root fly, a collar and deep planting. Against slugs on young plants, evening hunts and ash. Against clubroot, a five-year rotation, liming and drainage. Pigeons in winter are dealt with by netting.

In February-March, sow summer cabbages under cover. In April, plant summer cabbages, sow autumn cabbages in a seedbed. In May, collar, mesh, watering, slug hunting; sow winter cabbages. In June-July, plant autumn and winter cabbages after the peas, mulch, earth up, feed, harvest summer cabbages. In August, sow spring cabbages, feed one last time, watch for cabbage white and aphids. In September-October, plant spring cabbages, harvest autumn cabbages. From November to February, harvest winter cabbages as needed, protect the heads from severe frost under fleece.

Cut with a knife, below the head, keeping two or three protective leaves, as soon as the head is hard under the pressure of the hand. Harvest summer cabbages without delay, as they split quickly; autumn cabbages can be left in place until the first frosts; red and Savoy cabbages hold until January-February, sweeter after frost. Leave the stump in the ground after harvesting a summer cabbage: it gives three or four small tender heads again in September. A row of spring cabbages, planted in late September under fleece, fills the April-May gap, when the cellar is empty and the vegetable garden still bare.