How to grow spring cabbages

It’s an excellent idea to begin sowing your spring cabbages now as it will ensure your allotment is always bursting with colour, even during the spring when we are pre-occupied with sowing, rather than harvesting. Cabbages love sunny or partly sunny spots, which makes late summer to early autumn the perfect time to start growing.

Before planting your spring cabbages you need to prepare your soil a week or so before. It needs to be dug over with the addition of well rotted manure incorporated into it. This needs to be done before a previous crop as you want your soil to be fertile, but not too rich; crops can produce weak leaves that can easily be damaged by the winter weather if the soil is too rich.

However, before we get too far ahead of ourselves, it’s always best to begin growing inside in pots, seed trays or cell trays. However, if you’re growing in a seed bed, the soil needs to be well dug and raked until the surface is crumbly. Sow your seeds 23cm apart, 1cm deep.

Growing On

1.    Once your seedlings begin to germinate, start thinning out. Continue to thin as your crops grow to allow more space for each plant.
2.    Plants can be transplanted into their final growing positions once they’re roughly 10-13cm high. When doing this ensure there is plenty of soil attached to the roots. Plant your spring cabbages 30-40cm apart and firm the soil around them.
3.    Protect your crops with a polytunnel or cloche when the weather turns, you don’t want the frost to damage your young plants.
4.    Once this is all done, you should be able to harvest your crops from March to June.
Spring Cabbages are wonderful vegetables to have either in the garden or on the allotment as they ensure you will be harvesting all year round.

Notcutts