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Get your cabbages springing up

SPRING can be a lean time in the veg patch, so ensure there are plenty of pickings now by preparing a crop of spring cabbages. Raising your own plants from seeds can be a bit of a faff, but ready-grown, young plants are widely available from garden centres, nurseries and online specialists in late summer and early autumn.

Once in the ground, plants will establish readily in late summer and autumn, forming a vigorous root system and growing steadily over winter. They’ll have a noticeable growth spurt in early spring as the weather starts to warm up, forming conical or rounded heads that are tender, mild and deliciously sweet.

Among the tasty varieties usually offered as young plants are ‘April’, ‘Duchy’ and ‘Durham Early’, whose dark green, firm, conical heads are super tasty with a crunchy texture. ‘Spring Hero’ forms large, rounded heads, while ‘Duncan’ produces dense pointed heads up to 1lb in weight with crisp, sweet and nutty-flavoured leaves.

Spring cabbages will thrive in a sunny spot with fertile, well-drained firm soil. Prepare the ground by forking over, breaking up lumps and raking. The soil is ready when the surface is even and the top 2-3in has the texture of coarse breadcrumbs. Tap down with the back of a rake to ensure it’s fairly firm before planting.

Like all members of the brassica family (broccoli, cauliflower, kale etc), cabbages like neutral to alkaline ground. If you have acidic soil, sprinkle garden lime over the surface a month or so before planting. This will reduce the risk of clubroot, a fungal disease prevalent in acidic soil, causing stunted growth and wilting.

Set individual plants 18in apart, ensuring they have plenty of room to form decentsized heads. Keep the soil free of weeds, and water during dry spells. In early spring, give the developing crop a boost by drenching the soil with liquid seaweed fertiliser or by scattering poultry manure pellets around plants.

Pigeons are partial to cabbage leaves, so take measures to prevent plants from being damaged.

Protect individual cabbages with bell cloches and cover short rows with low tunnels clad with anti-bird netting, or lay sheets of it directly over the crop.

Cabbages will be ready for harvesting in April or May. Either pull up entire plants, roots and all, or cut the heads off with a sharp knife just above ground level.

A clever trick is to score the top of the stump with a halfinch deep cross, encouraging a crop of mini-cabbages to form from the incision.

Stockists include Cornish Cabbage Plants (cornishcabbageplants.com), Marshalls (marshallsgarden. com) and Mr Fothergill’s (mr-fothergills.co.uk).

Gardens

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2022-08-14T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-08-14T07:00:00.0000000Z

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