A dense, slow-maturing head of deep burgundy leaves that stores for months and holds its color through cooking when a splash of acid is added.
Brassica oleracea var. capitata f. rubra · also called Purple Cabbage, Red Dutch Cabbage
Windows are counted from the average date of your last spring frost.
Red cabbage stores far longer than green types — up to 5 months in a cool cellar — and its pigment-rich leaves are more nutritionally concentrated. It also tolerates light frost, extending the harvest window well into autumn.
A little history. Red cabbage is a cultivar group of the same species as green cabbage, kale, and kohlrabi. Its deep red-purple color comes from water-soluble pigments in the flavonoid family that shift toward blue in alkaline conditions and brighten back to red in acidic ones.
Sow ¼ inch deep and keep the medium evenly moist; do not let the surface crust or dry between waterings until sprouts appear. Seedlings emerge in 4–10 days in warm soil.
Beds strongly preferred; containers work only in large, deep pots — needs at least 12 inches of root depth and wide spacing. In containers: 15-gallon pot, minimum 12 inches deep. Space plants 18 inches (45 cm) apart.
Water deeply twice a week; increase to every other day during hot spells or heading. Water when the top inch of soil feels dry to the touch. Aim for about 1–1.5 inches per week including rain.
Side-dress (scatter fertilizer along the row and water in) once at transplant, again when heads begin to form. What to use: balanced 5–5-5 organic or compost-enriched soil; avoid excess nitrogen once heading begins.
Remove any yellowing outer leaves promptly to improve airflow. Do not remove healthy outer leaves — they protect the developing head.
It's ready when head feels firm and solid when squeezed — no give at all. Outer leaves are tight and glossy. Most heads reach 3–5 lbs at maturity; size alone is less reliable than firmness. Cut the stem cleanly at the base with a sharp knife, leaving 2–3 outer wrapper leaves attached to protect the head. Harvest in the morning when heads are cool and turgid.
Wrap loosely in damp paper and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks; or store whole heads at 32–35 °F (0–2 °C) with high humidity (root cellar) for up to 5 months. Do not wash until use.
Sow one spring batch and one summer batch (for fall harvest) to spread the season; red cabbage does not suit rapid succession sowing like lettuce due to its long maturity window.
Dill
Let a few dill plants flower at the bed edge and their flat umbels feed hoverflies and tiny parasitic wasps that hunt cabbage aphids and cabbageworm caterpillars. Keep dill 12 inches clear of the head so it does not shade young plants.
Celery
Gardeners have long paired celery with cabbage, crediting celery's strong scent with confusing the cabbage white butterfly. No trial has confirmed it, but both crops want the same steady moisture and rich soil, so the pairing costs nothing.
Onion
A dense edging of onions can help hide young cabbage from pests that locate it by smell, and results are best when the onion tops are brushed or bruised. Onions root shallowly, so they take little from the cabbage.
Nasturtium
Cabbage white butterflies and aphids often settle on nasturtium first. It only helps if you act: check the nasturtiums weekly and pull or spray colonized shoots before the pests move onto the heads.
Chamomile
Chamomile's small open flowers are easy feeding for hoverflies and tiny parasitic wasps, whose larvae work through aphid colonies. Sow a short row at the bed end where it will not crowd the wide-spaced cabbage.
Strawberry
Old companion charts keep strawberries and the cabbage family apart, though no mechanism has ever been demonstrated. The practical objection is simpler: strawberry runners spread into the wide spacing cabbage needs.
Tomato
Both are heavy feeders drawing hard on the same water and nitrogen, and a caged tomato often shades a heading cabbage by midsummer. Give each its own bed rather than crowding them into one.
Give the cabbage family 4 years away from this spot before any of its relatives return.
The tomato family, the pea and bean family or the carrot family thrive in this ground next season.
Red cabbage leaves the bed hungry and thinned of nitrogen, plus root stubs that can carry clubroot. Pull every stump, then keep all cabbage-family crops out for 4 years. Follow with a nightshade, a legume to rebuild nitrogen, or a carrot-family crop.
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