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Gardeners World blog

Grow & eat

King of cabbages

Posted by: Jane Moore, 04 October 2007, 09.25AM

Cabbage I know I keep banging on about cabbages but they are just about the best crops I have grown this year. The wet weather and cooler temperatures seem to have suited all the brassicas well and I've got cabbages coming out of my ears (strange thought!).

We've grown the classic round summer cabbage which is moth-eaten or rather caterpillar eaten after the attentions of the cabbage white butterfly babies. Looks terrible but tastes lovely - once you've fought your way through all the ragged outer leaves! All fuel for the compost heap I say.

But my fave cabbage this season - the cabbage I would crown king - has to be the savoy. Ours is one of the Franchi Sementi varieties, 'Cavola Verza', and it's a beauty. Big, bold and wonderfully wrinkly to look at, it also seems to be less attractive to those pesky caterpillars which makes it a winner all round. It's been easy to grow and germinated readily. And the flavour? Simply fab, perfect with gravy and roasties for those autumnal Sunday lunches.

Comments

  • sandi

    05 October 2007, 03.56PM

    I sowed some perrenial seeds, delphiniums, foxgloves and hollyhocks. They have come up ok and are still small, sitting in individual pots on a shelf on my frost free balcony...(I live in london). When should I plant them out? thanks

  • sandi

    05 October 2007, 03.56PM

    I sowed some perrenial seeds, delphiniums, foxgloves and hollyhocks. They have come up ok and are still small, sitting in individual pots on a shelf on my frost free balcony...(I live in london). When should I plant them out? thanks

  • Joyce, Glasgow

    08 October 2007, 12.11PM

    I have been making compost successfully for a number of years , but this year when turning over one of my heaps, I have been disgusted to find dozens of large beige slugs! Are they doing the business of breaking down the compost or are they inhibiting the work of the worms? Should I be trying to get rid of them?

  • annie

    08 October 2007, 09.07PM

    If I put a 4" layer over my dahlias with chipped bark, and the bed is up agaisnt house wall and in full sun, please could you tell me if you think they will survive the winter. thank you

  • Reg Bingham

    09 October 2007, 09.13AM

    I keep my brassicas covered as long as possible with enviromesh. When the cabbages have reached a good size or they get to big I uncover them. This year they have been caterpillar free but I'm not entirely sure it's just due to covers as there were pleanty of cabbage whites about & some inside the mesh, so predators must have helped. My favorite cabbage is January King but it's years since I got them to last stand till January & this year they have been ready for a month already & some have split. Timing is critical but I think the mesh will have brought them forward too.

  • Juno

    09 October 2007, 06.37PM

    Joyce, the slugs being in your compost heap mean they are not on your crops. They are fine in your heap and are helping with the decomposition. They won't worry your worms.

  • Dicky boy

    10 October 2007, 05.49PM

    anybody know about japanese onions?

  • simon

    29 October 2007, 08.40PM

    Annie - I used to lift all my dahlias but last year decided to cover them with a mulch of manure and this year they have produced a wonderful show. I will leave them in the ground this year too.

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