Cabbages cabbages

Having just used up the last of the Spring Cabbages - and they were delicious! - I'm now planting out the Summer Cabbages. They should really have gone out a week or two ago, but I was too busy. But they were all potted up into 5" pots, so they didn't suffer too much. Greyhound and Golden Acre are the varieties and I expect to start cutting them in about two weeks. Meanwhile, the Winter Cabbages - January King, Red Drumhead and Ormskirk Savoys are coming along nicely, ready to plant out in about three weeks after the early spuds are cleared. In my humble opinion, you can never have too much cabbage!

Hi Sean. I have been harvesting broccoli, spring greens, and cabbage for some weeks now and , like you say, delicious. I am trying out these tender stem broccoli. Very nice and they do have tender stalks.

I have been feeding me Cabbages etc on a home brewed liquid feed. Comfrey and Nettles socked for a month and the subsequent liquor diluted 15 to 1. The crops are the best ever. Very pleased.

Yep, that stuff will do it all right. And it smells lovely too

Sean Ph'lib wrote:Yep, that stuff will do it all right.  And it smells lovely too  

Yep, it does have an interesting aroma

Well lads and lasses - if there's anyone out there interested - it's the time of year again to sow what I consider the most important cabbage crop - Spring Cabbages.  Now is the time to sow the seeds,  so you have plants to plant out in September which will yield you Spring greens and cabbages next April, May and June (even earlier if you stick some in the polytunnel ).  There are several good varieties: my personal favourites are Wheeler's Imperial,  Flower of Spring, Durham Early and April,  and I'm also trying a variety this year from Tamar Organics called Wintergreen.  My plan is to have enough plants to plant up every bit of spare ground available in September and October - you can't have too many Spring Cabbages!  What you can't  eat, you can sell!  They can follow spuds, onions, runners, peas etc. So get sowing -  in module trays or in a seed bed in the garden. And the beauty of Spring cabbage is: no caterpillars! The only protection they might need is from rabbits and pigeons.

Or if you cant be arsed, get them from a garden centre. I shall be sowing some seed myself in the next week or sow, along with some some all year round collies. Next month is the time to some overwintering onions and garlic. My Leeks will also be transplanted from their holding bed.

Savoys came very nicely this year. I planted them out after lifting the garlic crop - the very next day, 21st July. This one was even bigger, but I stripped off the outside leaves before I thought to photograph it!

Nice one Sean. Mine are recovering well but it will be a while before we can munch on one. I am still picking off damn caterpillars . I think next year I will cover them with fleece, then I can keep the doors wide open. At the moment I have netted panels for ventilation which is not good enough.

I grew mine outside under hoops covered with a butterfly net - not one caterpillar!