Cabbage-growing isn’t as popular as it once was, but the sweet, tender flavor of freshly harvested cabbage makes it worthy of a spot in your garden. With so many varieties to choose from, you can have fresh and delicious cole slaw, sauerkraut, and boiled cabbage almost all season long. Cabbage requires the same conditions as other cole crops — cool weather, fertile soil, and proper watering — but the variety that you select is a bit more important to ensure a continuous harvest. You can easily get lost in the dizzying array of cabbage varieties. Growing two or three different varieties that mature at different times allows you to spread out the harvest over the growing season.

The following list introduces you to the cabbage universe. Cabbage plants can spread to 3 feet (1 m) in diameter, and all have green leaves and white centers unless otherwise noted. The late-maturing and fall-planted varieties are best for storage. The days to maturity for each variety are from setting out seedlings in the garden to first harvest. Add 20 days to the maturity date if you directly seed in the garden:

• ‘Danish Ballhead’: Round heads (8-inch-diameter/20 cm) produce late in the season and are great for winter storage. Matures in 100 days. (Good variety for sauerkraut.)
• ‘Ruby Perfection’: Midseason hybrid red variety produces attractive 5- to 6-inch-diameter (13- to 15-cm) reddish-purple heads. Matures in 80 days.
• ‘Savoy Ace’: Early hybrid produces 6- to 8-inch-diameter (15- to 20-cm) heads that grow well in summer’s heat. Matures in 76 days.
• ‘Savoy Chieftain’: Midseason, savoy-leafed variety produces 6- to 8-inch-diameter (15- to 20- cm) heads and matures in 85 days. Best grown as a fall crop.

Harvest cabbage heads when they’re firm when squeezed. Periodically squeeze your cabbages through the growing season, so you can tell when they’re firm. To harvest, cut the head from the base of the plant with a sharp knife. When harvesting early maturing varieties in summer, don’t dig up the plants. Cabbages have the ability to grow smaller side heads on the plant after the main head is harvested; harvest these side heads the same way.

My Cabbage Has A Splitting Headache

Sometimes, cabbage heads split before you can harvest them. Splitting occurs when the plant takes up too much fertilizer or water, especially around harvest time. This “overdose” causes the inner leaves to grow faster than the outer leaves, splitting the heads. Harvest splitting heads as soon as possible. To stop splitting after it starts, grab the head and give it a one-half turn to break some of the roots. You can also root prune the plant by digging in a circle about 1 foot (30 cm) from the base of the cabbage. Both of these methods slow the uptake of water and fertilizer to preserve the head.