Storing Cabbages Over Winter

There are two ways to keep cabbages through a UK winter: leave the hardy kinds standing in the soil and cut them as you need them, or harvest the firm storing types and keep them somewhere cool and dry. Which you choose depends on the cabbage. This is a quick guide to both, picking up where the main cabbage growing guide leaves off.

Leaving hardy types standing in the ground

The easiest "storage" is no storage at all. Hardy winter cabbages and savoys are bred to stand outside through frost, so you simply leave them where they grew and cut a head whenever you want one. A January savoy lifted straight from a frosted bed is one of the best things in the winter veg patch.

Savoys, with their crinkled blue-green leaves, are the toughest. They shrug off hard frost and often taste sweeter for it. Hardy winter types such as January King also hold well in the ground from late autumn right through to early spring.

A few pointers for ground-standing cabbages:

• Firm them in. In autumn, push any rocked plants back down and tread the soil so winter winds can't loosen the roots.
• Cut as needed. Take the head and leave the stump — you'll sometimes get a flush of small secondary greens in spring.
• Net against pigeons. Wood pigeons strip exposed brassicas in a cold snap. A net or some twiggy sticks over the row saves the crop.

Harvesting and storing firm heads

Dense, ball-headed cabbages — the Dutch white and red storing types — are the ones to cut and keep indoors. These won't survive a hard frost outside, so harvest them on a dry day in October or November, before the worst of the weather.

Lift or cut whole, solid heads and keep as many of the wrapper (outer) leaves on as you can — they protect the heart. Discard any that are split, soft or pest-damaged; only firm, blemish-free heads store well.

Then keep them somewhere cool, dry, dark and frost-free — an unheated shed, garage or porch is ideal, ideally around 0–5°C. Two reliable methods:

• Hung in nets. Pop each head into an old net (the kind oranges come in) and hang it from a beam so air circulates all round. This keeps them off damp surfaces and stops rot spreading head to head.
• On slatted shelves. Lay heads stalk-up on a slatted shelf or rack, not touching, so air moves between them. Check over them every couple of weeks and use any that start to soften.

A frost-free, airy space is the whole secret — the same principle as storing winter squash, just a little cooler and a touch more humid.

Which types store best

Match the cabbage to the job:

The firm Dutch white and red drumhead types are the champion keepers — solid as a football and built to last. Savoys and January King are the stand-in-the-ground crops. Loose-hearted summer and autumn cabbages don't store; eat those fresh while they're good. If you're new to brassicas, start with a savoy for the bed and a Dutch white for the shed.

How long they keep

• In the ground: savoys and hardy winter types hold for 2–4 months, cut as needed from late autumn into early spring.
• Hung or shelved indoors: firm Dutch white and red cabbages keep for 2–3 months, sometimes longer in a cold, steady shed.

Either way, check stored heads regularly and use the softest first. A cabbage that's losing its squeak is past its best — trim back the outer leaves to the firm heart inside, which is usually still perfectly good.

For sowing dates, spacing and dealing with cabbage white caterpillars and other pests, see the full cabbage guide. And once you've a winter store sorted, purple sprouting broccoli is the natural next brassica to fill the hungry gap in early spring.