Cabbages. Worth it or not??

[veggiechicken]

Dare I ask the secret? Enviromesh???

[Florence Fennel]

See, that's why I love growing cabbage - esp red cabbage, as I rarely get any caterpillars and if I do, they don't get to the inside leaves whereas with PSB or calabrese the flowers get filled with black bugs and I just can't face eating them.

I can never face eating black bugs either Zaz

[janeyo]

I put some in the flower beds one year, nobody noticed!

[SarrissUK]

Until last year I'd never grown cabbage before, and what a nice surprise they were in terms of the flavour! Friends of mine BEGGED me to have them over for dinner so they could have some of my 'special recipe' cabbage, and all they were... were boiled! LOL
If I struggled for space, I think I'd grow a couple at a time, and squeeze in carrots in between. Those two are the veg that I feel taste THAT much better than shop bought
For me, if my hand is forced, it's the flavour and my personal favourite veg that decides what I grow. I do grow the veg that are expensive to buy too, but if push comes to shove, they would have to make the way for carrots and cabbage

[Andromeda]

I love home grown cabbage, I grow several types and have bought about 3 cabbages in the last 2 years. The flavour is far superior and they do look attractive in a flower border (i usually plant a couple of winter ones in a border even though I now have an allotment).

[colser]

try growing some over wintering cabbages, can be planted after the autumn harvest and pulled just in time for the space to be filled with other veg in late spring

[Tripmeup]

Yes, yes and yes....Homegrown cabbages are way nicer than shop stuff...
As others say, grow a few this year just to convince yourself!!

[Patchninja]

You can cram them into 1 square foot - I'd try for 4 then cook them while they're small and tender.

[kathyd]

I grew pointy spring cabbage last year and put them closer together than the recommended spacing to try to get smaller plants - deliberately! I found some grew huge and others didn't thrive - maybe the way I looked after them, I dunno. The biggest part was the outside leaves which spread for miles, so as suggested above you could break these off with no probs and still have the heart, which was quite neat once you managed to find it! They do taste better than shop bought, honest . Could you fit a few pots between your raised beds for them and plant them individually? Or in corners, as Zazen suggests . And they still got slugs in I'm afraid, even in the polytunnel...

[Snadger]

I sometimes grow 'sweetheart' type cabbage (cos I like em)

Fi seed is expensive and you don't get many in a packet. To make it more worthwhile I do the 'cross in the stem' trick as I harvest them and a bit later on in the year I am rewarded with up to four mini cabbage on the old stalk!

[Two_Sheds]

over wintering cabbages, can be planted after the autumn harvest

Really?
They usually have to be sown in late spring, planted out in summer, then they grow on all autumn. If you don't plant until autumn, they aren't growing to grow much before it gets dark & cold ...?

[dominic10]

Am trying to grow Kale for the first time and also PSB which I think also has a long cropping period. They're in trays, just seedlings at the moment but potted up 10 cabbages today. It's trial and error for me I'm afraid - so much to do.

[Andromeda]

Really?
They usually have to be sown in late spring, planted out in summer, then they grow on all autumn. If you don't plant until autumn, they aren't growing to grow much before it gets dark & cold ...?

Durham Earlies are sown in July-September, so started off in modules and potted on before going into the bed would give time for space creation (although can be sown directly outdoors) - they're harvested April - May.

[RedThorn]

I didn't bother with cabbages either due to space catterpillers and cost in shops. But that said the flavour of own grrown savoy. . . Yum!