Cabbage Hispi F1 - Brassica oleracea capitata

The Hispi F1 Cabbage is a fast-growing cabbage that can be sown almost all year round. It produces pointed heads composed of tender leaves with exquisite taste. A superb variety, resistant to running to seed and awarded for its qualities by the prestigious Royal. It can be sown from February to July and then from September to October for a harvest from May to September.

The Savoy Cabbage or Drumhead Cabbage is a very popular leaf 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 flavor as for the generous appearance of the heads it forms.

Called interchangeably Drumhead Cabbage or Savoy 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 as an annual that produces a more or less tightly packed head, which can be round, slightly flattened or clearly conical in pointed varieties. The leaves of the Savoy 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.

Cabbage, although emblematic of winter, can be sown and harvested almost all year round. 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 allow, with leeks and parsnips, to wait until the first spring harvests.

Savoy Cabbage can be eaten both raw and cooked, it can be prepared grated in salads, 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 and 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 labeled F1 for 'F1 hybrid' because it is a variety resulting from the crossing of carefully selected parents to combine their qualities. This produces a variety that can be particularly flavorful and/or early while being resistant to certain diseases. Sometimes criticized or wrongly associated with GMOs, F1 hybrid seeds are interesting both for their uniformity and their resistance, but unfortunately their qualities do not pass on to subsequent generations: it will therefore not be possible to recover the seeds for later sowing.

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, simply by cutting just below the head.

Storage: Savoy Cabbage can be kept for several days in the refrigerator. 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 tasty preservation of autumn varieties with white heads.

The gardener's 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 valuable pollinators. So, don't hesitate to plant, in the middle of the rows or along the edges of the bed, Gaillardias, Marigolds, Zinnias, Cosmos, Nasturtiums, or even beautiful herbs like Dill. However, be careful with certain plants, which are nevertheless very useful like borage, which tends to reseed abundantly in dedicated cultivation spaces.