Fancy fresh cabbages next spring? Then it’s time to get sowing

If you told primary-school-age me that I’d one day love cabbage, I would have laughed and called you a liar. Despite how much school dinners tried to put me – and likely, you – off this green-leafed staple, I’m happy to say that my taste has been rehabilitated. Yet, for all the love I have for the humble cabbage, it is not a crop I grow. And it is for the same reason that lots of grow-your-own classics don’t make it on to my plot: I don’t have enough space. For a vegetable that is so inexpensive and ubiquitous, I simply can’t justify it.

But if you’re fortunate enough to have a decent-sized patch – or just a strong desire to grow cabbages – then it’s a good time to get them started. Spring cabbages sown now – in good quality sowing compost in a modular tray – will grow swiftly in summer’s ideal conditions. They will then overwinter in the ground all the way through to next spring, when they will be ready to pick.

There are plenty of brassica-hungry creatures around – from butterflies to pigeons – so I’d advise potting young cabbage plants on and keeping them protected until they are sturdy enough to survive a bit of munching. Even when they are ready to go in the ground, I’d use insect-proof mesh to protect them. Appropriate spacing is also important – 30-40cm between plants, depending on the variety – so they have room to grow, plus you can monitor their progress much more easily. If you do plant spring cabbages (like ‘Duncan’, pictured) closer together, harvest some as spring greens and leave the remainder to keep growing until they develop into full heads.

From seed to harvest, spring cabbages – grown in plenty of sun and nutrient rich, well-draining soil – take around six months to reach maturity. This is another important consideration when deciding whether to dedicate an area to this delicious but time- and space-hungry crop.

It is quite possible to grow cabbages pretty much year-round. Those ready for harvest in the summer months are sown in late winter or early spring, while autumn cabbages are sown from mid-spring but tend to be large and so need plenty of space. Winter cabbages are on the bigger side too. They’re the type that come to harvest when the veg patch is otherwise bare, and they boast a hardiness that can withstand a British winter, so they are poised to be picked as and when they are needed.

My favourite thing about the brassica family to which cabbages belong is that they are edible from the off, so you could grow cabbages as microgreens should that interest you. More helpfully, it means that if you set out to grow cabbages and at any point change your mind, then you can eat what you’ve grown and call it a day.