How to grow them
Sow thinly where they are to grow, 2cm deep, and thin in stages to 23cm apart. Keep them watered in summer to prevent the roots turning woody.
Cabbage family
Swedes
A winter root that looks after itself. It is a brassica, so it goes in the cabbage bed.
- Buy as
- Seed
- Space
- 23cm between plants, 38cm between rows
- Position
- Full sun
- Rotation
- Cabbage family
- Difficulty
- Easy
The year
Sow outdoors
Harvest
When to pick
Lift as needed from October. They stand in the ground through most winters.
What goes wrong
Problems, and what to do
Flea beetle
Small holes in seedling leaves. Keep seedlings watered and cover with fleece.
Mildew
Water in dry spells.
Clubroot
Lime and rotate.
Good neighbours: Peas.
Same family
More from cabbage family
CabbagesWith the right varieties you can cut a cabbage in every month of the year.
KaleThe toughest green on the plot. It stands through snow and feeds you in the hungry gap.
Broccoli (calabrese)The green broccoli of the supermarket, ready in about twelve weeks.
Purple sprouting broccoliIt takes nearly a year, and repays you with fresh greens when the plot has little else.
Brussels sproutsA long wait and a lot of space, for sprouts that taste nothing like the boiled ones of memory.
CauliflowersThe hardest of the family to grow well, and the most satisfying when you do.
TurnipsFast, and far better small. Pulled at golf-ball size they are sweet enough to eat raw.
RadishesSeed to plate in four weeks. The crop to sow with children, or between slower rows.