Cabbage Attraction - Brassica oleracea capitata

The 'Attraction' Cabbage is a superb autumn variety that produces heads composed of perfectly imbricated white leaves. It is a cabbage of excellent taste, vigorous and resistant to early frosts. It can be sown from February to June for a harvest from August to December.

The Headed Cabbage or White Cabbage is a very popular leaf vegetable, it is one of the essentials in the vegetable garden and if we love it so much, it may be as much for its flavor as for the generous appearance of the heads it forms.

Called interchangeably White Cabbage or Headed Cabbage (in Latin Brassica oleracea capitata, capitata meaning "head"), this beautiful vegetable belongs to the large family of Brassicaceae (formerly Cruciferae). Originally from Europe, it is a biennial plant grown as an annual that produces a more or less compact head, which can be round, slightly flattened or clearly conical in pointed varieties. The leaves of the Headed Cabbage are smooth and their color varies depending on the varieties: from very light green, almost white, to dark green, sometimes slightly bluish, to red tinged with violet to 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 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.

The Headed 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: it has low energy value but is very rich in vitamins C, B6, and B9, it also contains a lot of fiber 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 moisture. It thrives in the sun and generally does well in cool and rainy climates.

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

Storage: the Headed 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 the tasty preservation of white-headed autumn varieties.

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 in it. First of all, and even if the beauty of certain vegetables like cabbage is sufficient in itself, for the aesthetic pleasure they provide but also to repel pests and attract precious pollinators. So, don't hesitate to plant, in the middle of the rows or along the edges, Blanket Flowers, Marigolds, Zinnias, Cosmos, Nasturtiums or even beautiful herbs like Dill. However, be cautious with some plants, although very useful, like Borage which tends to self-seed abundantly in spaces dedicated to crops.