#GetGardening – sow your own cabbages

Cabbages are packed with nutrients, including vitamin C and K and they also help improve digestion and help to lower blood pressure too. So, if you’d like to grow your own this year, then now is the perfect time to start sowing. Just follow our top tips as part of our #GetGardening campaign:

If you sow your own now, then you’ll be rewarded with a plentiful harvest of greens in very late winter and early spring.

You should pick a sunny spot, which has not been used to grow cabbages or other brassicas during the past three years.

Select a firm, non-acid soil, which has good drainage.

Protect the seedlings from birds. Hoe around the crop until the plants are large enough to suppress weeds. Water if the weather is dry. Always apply a liquid feed as the heads begin to mature.

In autumn, earth-up the stems of spring cabbage. During winter, firm down any plants loosened by wind or frost.

In March, thin out the spring cabbage rows. Young leaves can be used as spring greens.

Leave the remaining plants for harvesting in April or May. Cabbages are harvested by cutting with a sharp knife close to the ground.

With spring and summer varieties, cut a 1.5cm deep cross into the stump and a second crop of small cabbages should appear.

You can read more about our #GetGardening campaign here.