Red CabbageTête Noire - Brassica oleracea capitata

The Black Head Red Cabbage is a traditional variety that produces small, tightly packed heads composed of leaves that are a beautiful dark red, almost black. It can be sown under cover from March to May or directly in the ground from May to June for a harvest from September to December.

The Round-headed Cabbage is a very popular 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 size of the heads it forms.

Called the Round-headed 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 tight head, which can be round, slightly flattened or clearly conical in pointed varieties. The leaves of the 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.

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 that allow, along with leeks and parsnips, to wait until the first spring harvests.

The Cabbage can be eaten both raw and cooked, it can be shredded in salads, braised to accompany meat and fish dishes, stuffed or used in soups and Sauerkraut. There are plenty of recipes, both traditional and modern.

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 fiber and minerals like 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.

NB: This variety is labeled F1 for 'F1 hybrid' because it is a variety resulting from the cross-breeding of carefully selected parents to combine their qualities. This results in a variety that can be particularly flavourful and/or early while being resistant to certain diseases. Sometimes criticised 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 save the seeds for future 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: The 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 (fermentation) allows the delicious preservation of white-headed autumn varieties.

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 there. 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 beds, 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 self-seed abundantly in dedicated cultivation spaces.