Cabbage Brunswick - Brassica oleracea capitata

The Brunswick Cabbage is a productive variety that produces large, slightly flattened heads. It is a cabbage that is well suited for making sauerkraut. It is sown from April to July for a harvest from July to November.

The White Cabbage is a very popular leaf vegetable, it is a must-have in the vegetable garden and if we love it so much, it may be as much for its flavour as for the generous size of the heads it forms.

Indifferently called White Cabbage or Brunswick Cabbage (in Latin Brassica oleracea capitata, capitata meaning 'head'), this beautiful vegetable plant belongs to the large family of Brassicaceae (formerly Cruciferae). Native to Europe, it is a biennial plant cultivated as an annual that produces a more or less tight head, which can be round, slightly flattened, or sharply conical in pointed varieties. The leaves of the Brunswick Cabbage are smooth and their colour differs depending on the varieties: from very light green, almost white, to dark green, sometimes slightly bluish, to red tinged with violet or almost black.

The Cabbage, although emblematic of winter, can be sown and harvested almost all year round. The varieties are generally grouped into three main categories: spring cabbages that are harvested from late April to June, summer and autumn cabbages for the period from July, and winter cabbages that, along with leeks and parsnips, allow us to wait until the first spring harvests.

The Brunswick Cabbage can be consumed both raw and cooked, it can be grated for salads, braised to accompany meat and fish dishes, stuffed, or even used in soups and sauerkraut. There is no shortage of recipes, both in traditional and modern cuisine.

From a dietary point of view, it is remarkable: its energy value is low but it is very rich in vitamins C, B6, and B9, it also contains a lot of fibre and minerals such as calcium.

In the vegetable garden, it is an easy vegetable to grow as long as you meet its requirements: deep soil, excellent manure, and regular watering. It thrives in sunny locations and generally does well in cool and rainy climates.

Harvest: it can be harvested when the cabbage forms a nice head and before the leaves start to turn yellow. It is harvested with a knife, simply by cutting just below the head.

Storage: the Savoy Cabbage can be kept in the refrigerator for several days. It can also be frozen very well after being blanched in salted boiling water. Winter varieties can also be left in the ground. Finally, the preparation of sauerkraut (lacto-fermentation) allows for the delicious preservation of white-headed autumn varieties.

The gardener's tip: Don't forget the flowers! Even though the vegetable garden is primarily intended for producing quality vegetables, it is always interesting to plant flowers. First and foremost, for the aesthetic pleasure they provide, but also to repel pests and attract valuable pollinators. So, don't hesitate to plant Gaillardia, Marigolds, Zinnias, Cosmos, Nasturtiums, or even beautiful aromatic herbs like Dill in the middle of the rows or at the edge of the bed. However, be careful with some plants, even though they are useful, like Borage, which tends to self-seed abundantly in cultivated areas.