Red Cabbage Ruby Ball F1 - Brassica oleracea capitata

The 'Ruby Ball F1' Cabbage is a perfect variety of red cabbage that produces beautiful, sweet, and sugary red leaf heads. It can be sown from February to October for a harvest 10 to 12 weeks later.

The Round Cabbage or White Cabbage is a trendy leafy 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 appearance of the heads it forms.

Called interchangeably White Cabbage or Round Cabbage (in Latin Brassica oleracea capitata, capitata meaning "head"), this beautiful vegetable plant belongs to the large family of Brassicaceae (formerly Cruciferae). Originally from Europe, it is a biennial plant cultivated annually that produces a more or less tight head, which can be round, flattened or distinctly conical in pointed varieties. The leaves of the Round Cabbage are smooth, and their colour varies depending on the varieties: from very light green, almost white, to dark green, sometimes slightly bluish, to red tinged with violet or nearly 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, which are harvested from late April to June; summer and autumn Cabbages for the period from July; and winter Cabbages, which, along with leeks and parsnips, allow us to wait until the first spring harvests.

Round Cabbage can be consumed raw or cooked; it can be prepared, grated in a salad, braised to accompany meat and fish dishes, stuffed or even in soup 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 easy to grow as long as you meet its requirements: deep soil, excellent manure and regular moisture. It thrives in the sun and generally does well in cool and rainy climates.

NB: This variety is labelled F1 for "hybrid F1" because it results from the cross-breeding of carefully selected parents to combine their qualities. This results in a variety that can be exceptionally flavourful and early while resistant to certain diseases. Sometimes criticised or wrongly associated with GMOs, F1 hybrid seeds are attractive for their homogeneity and resistance. Still, unfortunately, their qualities do not pass on to subsequent generations: it will, therefore, not be possible to recover the seeds for later sowing.

Harvest occurs when the Cabbage forms a nice head before the leaves turn yellow. It is done with a knife by cutting just below the head.

Storage: Round Cabbage can be kept in the refrigerator for several days. It also freezes 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 the autumn varieties with white heads to be preserved in a tasty way.

The gardener's little tip: Don't forget the flowers! Even though the vegetable garden is primarily a garden for producing quality vegetables, it is always interesting to plant flowers. Firstly, even if the beauty of certain vegetables, such as Cabbage, is sufficient for their aesthetic pleasure, it also repels pests and attracts valuable pollinators. So, don't hesitate to plant Blanket Flowers, Marigolds, Zinnias, Cosmos, Nasturtiums or even beautiful herbs like Dill in the middle of the rows or at the edge of the bed. However, be careful with certain plants, which are nevertheless very useful, such as Borage, which tends to reseed abundantly in areas dedicated to cultivation.