Cabbage Elisa F1 - Brassica oleracea capitata

The 'Elisa F1' Cabbage is a delicious variety with a slightly sweet taste that produces beautiful round, shiny green heads from early summer to autumn. This cabbage, awarded by the prestigious Royal Horticultural Society, is also highly resistant to running to seed. It can be sown from February to July for a harvest from June to October.

The Savoy Cabbage or White Cabbage is a very popular leafy vegetable, it is one of the must-haves 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.

Called interchangeably White Cabbage or Savoy Cabbage (in Latin Brassica oleracea capitata, capitata meaning "head"), this beautiful vegetable plant belongs to the large family of Brassicaceae (formerly Crucifers). 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 Savoy 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 to nearly black.

Cabbage, although emblematic of winter, can be sown and harvested almost all year round. Varieties are generally grouped into three main categories: spring Cabbage, which is 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 you to wait until the first spring harvests.

Savoy Cabbage can be eaten raw or 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 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.

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 both for their uniformity and resistance, but unfortunately, their qualities are not passed on to subsequent generations; therefore, it will not be possible to save 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: Savoy 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 you to preserve white-headed autumn varieties deliciously.

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 though the beauty of certain vegetables like Cabbage is enough for aesthetic pleasure, they provide but also repel pests and attract valuable pollinators. So, don't hesitate to plant, right in the middle of the rows or along the edges of the beds, Gaillardias, Marigolds, Zinnias, Cosmos, Nasturtiums or even beautiful herbs like Dill. However, be cautious with certain plants, although beneficial, such as Borage, which tends to self-seed abundantly in spaces dedicated to crops.