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~ Seed for CABBAGES ~ Cabbages basically fall into 3 groups named after when they are ready to eat: Spring Cabbages (sown in late summer / early autumn) Summer Cabbages ( sown in spring) Winter Cabbages (sown in spring/early summer) The earlies are smaller & more tender, but the winter ones have longer to grow and so are much bigger.   Rather than offer a huge array of similar types for you to try to choose between, we have instead selected one good variety from each group: 'Precoce de Louviers' Spring Cabbage A special variety from France. Chosen because very quick-growing (the name means 'Early Louviers Cabbage'), this is a medium green cabbage that forms big conical heads. Traditionally it is sown in late summer / early autumn for early spring harvest. We like the pointy heads! This particular variety is also dual purpose and can also be sown very successfully in spring for harvest from August into the autumn (shown in pale green on the sowing chart below). We do this and have them ready at the end of July. Pointy. Sow autumn or spring. Order CaPL - 2g (450 seed) £1.39     'Baccalan de Rennes' Spring Cabbage A new Spring Cabbage this year - pointy, but with a more oval, oxheart shape. This is an old traditional variety from Rennes in France which was an important centre for vegetable growing in the late medieval period. (We have a very fine melon from the same area, too) Traditionally it is sown in late summer / early autumn, for a spring harvest. You can try sowing it in early spring too, for a summer harvest, and we'd be pleased to hear how you get on if you try doing this. This variety is still very popular all over Europe, especially in the wetter areas of France and Portugal, and we think it should do well in most parts of the UK. Oxheart. Sow autumn or spring. Order CaBR- 2g (450 seed) £1.39       'Nantais Hatif' Late Summer / Early Autumn Green Cabbage We have added this one this year to fill out the season a bit. It is for sowing in spring: the crisp round heads are ready to eat from late summer into autumn. A really good and reliable tightly packed green cabbage. Order CaNH- 2g (450 seed) £1.45     'Rouge Tete Noir' Late Summer/ Early Autumn Red Cabbage This red ballhead is a medium-quick round-headed cabbage we have chosen for late summer/autumn harvest, to complement the green Nantais Hatif above. It is a traditional variety that is very well known, which always does well for us, and is very popular. Pretty grated in salads too! Sow in Spring for use from mid-summer onwards. We have found that red cabbages seem to be less affected by caterpillars, perhaps because they show up more to the birds on the red background? Firm red heads, short stem. Order CaRT - 2g (400 seed) £1.12     'Quintal de Alsace' Winter Cabbage As a winter cabbage we have chosen this French 'drumhead' type. It forms very large flattened round heads for use over the winter. The heart is well covered in blue-grey leaves, and we have found references to it being grown at least 150 years ago in parts of Germany and France. Sow spring or summer Order CaQA - 2g (400 seed) £1.40   'Pe Tsai' Chinese (Winter) Cabbage Greens Another delicious cooking green to help you through the difficult winter months. Pe Tsai is a richly flavoured heading 'chinese cabbage'. Not really a cabbage though - perhaps more like a frilly Pak Choi. It is easy to grow, and the leaves have a really delicious flavour raw or cooked. The pale green cylindrical heads are ideal in salads, but it's also very good stir fried in chinese dishes - you'll recognise it as a main ingredient in your take-aways once you've grown it! We like it because it is very quick to grow and head up; ready in autumn from a late-summer sowing. Sow after midsummer. Do not sow in Spring. Order OVPT - 1g (lots of seed) £1.20 Saving Cabbage Seed: Cabbage seed is the same family as Broccoli, so follow the pictures there. The main difference is that you will need to slash the head of ball-types with a knife to let the seed stalk out. Seed-saving instructions are included with your seeds, so you can do this yourself. And of course, seed-saving is only possible because these are all real, non-hybrid varieties.