Buscaro Red Cabbage plugs

The Buscaro red cabbage is an ideal variety to grow for autumn harvests. This red cabbage or smooth-leafed cabbage produces beautiful elongated heads, weighing between 1.5 and 2 kg. The plug plants of the Buscaro red cabbage can be planted from March to June for a harvest from September to November.

The red cabbage or smooth-leafed 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 flavor as for the generous heads it forms. It belongs to the large Brassicaceae family (formerly Cruciferae), like other cabbages: cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, savoy cabbage, green cabbage or curly cabbage, kohlrabi, Chinese cabbage, etc.

The red cabbage has the Latin name Brassica oleracea capitata, with capitata meaning 'head'. 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 distinctly conical in pointed varieties. The leaves of the Cabus cabbage are smooth and their color varies depending on the variety: from very light green, almost white, to dark green, sometimes slightly bluish, or from red tinged with violet to almost black.

The smooth-leafed cabbage, although emblematic of winter, can be harvested almost all year round. Smooth-leafed cabbage varieties are generally grouped into three main categories: spring cabbages, which are harvested from late April to June, summer and autumn cabbages, which are harvested from July to November, and winter cabbages, which, along with leeks and parsnips, allow for waiting until the first spring harvests.

The Cabus cabbage can be eaten raw or 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: it has low energy value but it is very rich in vitamins C, B6, and B9. It also contains a lot of fibre 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 fertilization, and regular moisture. It thrives in the sun and generally does well in cool and rainy climates.

Harvest: it is carried out when the cabbage forms a beautiful head but before the leaves start to turn yellow. It is harvested with a knife, by simply cutting just below the head. This variety can be harvested from August to November.

Storage: the smooth-leafed 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 flavourful preservation of autumn varieties with white heads.

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. Even though the beauty of certain vegetables like cabbage is sufficient in itself, flowers will enhance the aesthetic aspect of the vegetable garden and also help repel pests and attract valuable pollinators. So, don't hesitate to plant Gaillardias, Marigolds, Zinnias, Cosmos, Nasturtiums, or beautiful herbs like Dill, right in the middle of the rows or along the edges of the beds. However, be cautious of certain plants, although useful, like borage, which tend to self-seed abundantly in dedicated growing spaces.