Cabbage Caramba F1 - Brassica oleracea capitata

The 'Caramba F1' Cabbage is a cabbage that produces a pointed head containing a white, tender and tasty heart. It is ideally consumed raw in salads or steamed. It is sown from March to June for a harvest from August to December.

The Round Cabbage or Savoy Cabbage is a very popular leafy 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 either Savoy Cabbage or Round 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 cultivated annually that produces a more or less compact head, which can be round, flattened, or conical in pointed varieties. The leaves of the Round Cabbage are smooth, and their colour varies depending on the variety: from very light green, almost white, to dark green, sometimes slightly bluish, to red tinged with violet, almost black.

Although symbolic of winter, Cabbage can be sown and harvested almost all year round. 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 both raw and cooked; it can be grated for salads, braised to accompany meat and fish dishes, stuffed or even used 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 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 moisture. It thrives in the sun and generally does well in cool and rainy climates.

Note: This variety is labelled F1 for "F1 hybrid" 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 uniformity and resistance. Still, unfortunately, their qualities are not passed on to subsequent generations: it will, therefore, not be possible to recover the seeds for later sowing.

Harvest is done 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 can also be frozen 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 delicious preservation of white-headed autumn varieties.

The gardener's little trick: 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 the aesthetic pleasure they provide, they also repel pests and attract precious pollinators. So, don't hesitate to plant, in the middle of the rows or at the edge of the bed, Gaillardias, Marigolds, Zinnias, Cosmos, Nasturtiums or even beautiful herbs like Dill. However, be wary of certain plants, which are nevertheless very useful, such as Borage, which tends to self-seed abundantly in dedicated cultivation spaces.