Here are some pictures and updates on the cabbages I’m growing to go to seed next spring. I planted a mix of about 15 different varieties:
The Peace Seedlings Belarus Cabbage Grex
Primax
January King
Chieftain Savoy
Amarant
Testa Di Ferro
Charleston Wakefield
Glory of Enkhuizen
Amager
Futog
Danish Ballhead
Mammoth Red Rock
Winter King Savoy
Red Acre
Golden Acre
Brunswick
As you can see in the following picture, there is a wide difference in growth rates. I’m not expecting any mature heads this fall; fall-planted cabbages don’t generally form heads here due to our hot, dry summer, erratic fall weather, and cabbage aphid pressure. But I’m hoping that they will grow large enough to overwinter successfully.
And here is a picture of a cabbage that we have nicknamed “Lonesome George”. Last year, I overwintered a slightly less diverse mix of cabbages, but only one made it through the winter: one of the Peace Seedlings Belarus Grex had a tiny live sprout coming from the dead stump. That was very frustrating, because I didn’t have anything to cross with it; thus the nickname. As it happens, though, “George” didn’t flower, and instead turned into a multi-headed cabbage. I hope it makes it through a second winter and that some of the other cabbages survive to cross with it.
