Spring cabbage are the cabbages we grow through the Winter to have available the following spring, they also can be used to produce Spring greens which are really just no heading cabbage.
The great thing about growing Spring cabbage is they are spaced at equidistant spacing and the thinnings in the Spring are used in the kitchen when we need to give more room to the growing cabbage
You can sow Spring cabbage till end of September and plant out till end of October so its perfect for the Autumn
Remember the wider the spacing the larger the cabbage so think whats the most useable size for me in the kitchen
Cabbages do best in a soil with a pH of 6–7 so adding calcified seaweed is always a benefit
They need high Nitrogen so great to follow a green manure and benefit from having coffee grounds applied to the growing beds as a long term slow release nitrogen boost
keep plants weed free with shallow hoeing
Always remove dead or rotting leaves as they incourage pests and diseases
Keep plants covered if possible to stop butterfly’s laying eggs but also pigeons eating then as the weather gets colder and there feed sources become scarce either a cloche of fleece is perfect for this
Good varieties are
Duncan A spring cabbage that produces pointed mid-green heads which will stand in good condition for weeks
Wheelers Imperial Good old variety which is very versatile and can be sown in Autumn for early spring greens/hearting cabbage .Or sown in Spring for Summer/Autumn cutting
Precoce de Louviers French variety its dual purpose and can also be sown very successfully in spring for harvest from late Summer onwards
If you don’t immediately need the bed were the cabbages are growing for another crop, you can produce a second harvest from the stumps – but the cabbages need to be growing in good conditions and be generally healthy. Start by harvesting the main cabbage; slice the head cleanly from its stalk, using a sharp knife and making the cut some 5cm or so up from the ground. Then cut a cross shape 1cm deep into the stump, give handful of feed like Fish,Blood and Bone,The stump will sprout a cluster of smaller cabbages or leaves
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