Topic: my cabbages are far far too big for me

[strawberry1]

New cabbages this year as I was fed up of thick bitter leaves and these are stunningly nice but massive. I have given some away but am admitting defeat and uprooted the remainder for the hotbin, as soon as it makes room which will be next week. The variety is cabbice and it really is lovely but I was not expecting such hugeness, no good on my own.

I have cut my brassica beds down to 2/3 and will have to be even more strict with myself. one each of calabrese, brussels and sprouting broccoli this year and have eaten the huge calabrese. No good if the one variety matures at the same time. Maybe curly kale instead of cabbages, anyway kale is nice in a juice

Is it the weather? Rain, warm constantly high humidity

[Digeroo]

If you cut off the cabbage it may produce three or four smaller cabbages.  I leave a good ring of leaves seem to get going again faster.

[chriscross1966]

The variety "Minicole" is pretty good for lovely small heads... they hold well, but the biggest of them only really has 3 servings on it, normally 2.... frequently I'd eat half at lunchtime as a salad and half in the evening cooked with my dinner.... took me a while to find, but you get to plant them in at a fair old density, plant about a foot or so apart, net against birds and butterflies.... but IMHO the best small round cabbage I've found so far... mt problem with Hispi is that as the row thins out they get a chunk bigger than I want, not so much of a problem with Minicole....

[strawberry1]

thanks, I forgot about minicole, they`ll be fine if I squash them in a small area. Yes I`ll put them in my plan plus one curly kale plant. Pathetic isn`t it but realistic, I am juicing loads as it is, just to get them eaten at the moment. I only ever use bocking 14 and hm hotbin compost and a few chicken pellets, everything is growing like the clappers, oh I forgot the green manure, I suppose my clay soil is well fed

[chriscross1966]

One thought, it has been a rubbish year for all the "imported" plants but a good year for all the "native" stuff, carrots, parsnips, beets, cabbages and the like are all doing well,  hot-weather exotics rather less so.... so I would expect this years cabbages to be about as big as they can be....

[ACE]

Some of mine have grown so much they have splits in them. I just cut out the split as it usually starts to go brown. Still plenty of cabbage for 2 or 3 meals. I did chance my luck and put some in the freezer in meal size bags. We'll see how they do as the 90 second blanche seemed to be cooking it too much so, it was a dip into boiling water in small batches then under the tap to cool it quick.

[johhnyco15]

here on the east coast ive had a great year  everything has cropped really well from cabbages toms sweetcorn pumpkins around 150 and still growing squashes not as good as normal but still around 30 to 50 chillis peppers all great carrots parsnips it really has been a bumper year despite the cold biting wind cloudy days and no rain must be lucky i guess