Scientific Name: Brassica oleracea Capitata Group

Common Name: Cabbage 'Red Dutch'

Family: Brassicaceae (Cabbage & Mustard)

Etymology

Brassica: Derived From Latin Name For Cabbage
oleracea: Edible Vegetable
Capitata: Forming A Head

Origin

The wild cabbage species from which cultivated cabbages have been developed is native to the Mediterranean. The Red Dutch variety of cabbage has been grown in Australian vegetable gardens for at least the past 140 years.

Description

Cabbage 'Red Dutch' is a heirloom cabbage variety which forms large, crisp, deep red-purple coloured heads.

Uses

A versatile and colourful variety, purple cabbage can be added to soups and stews, stir-fried, pickled or made into coleslaw

Germination

Sow cabbage seeds 6mm deep.  Allow 40cm between plants to provide plenty of room for the cabbage heads to expand.  In cold areas of Australia sow Red Dutch cabbage seeds from September to November.  In temperate regions sow from March to October.  In the subtropics sow from April to September.  Will be difficult to grow in the tropics, but if you wish to give this variety a try sow the seed from April to August to avoid growing it during the high humidity of the wet season.

Cultivation

Frost hardy.  Covering young seedlings with an insect exclusion netting product can help to prevent them being decimated by the caterpillars of the cabbage white butterfly, although the caterpillars do tend to favour green varieties of cabbage over red.  Takes 13 to 14 weeks from sowing the cabbage seeds to harvest time, can be harvested as soon as the cabbage head is of a good size and feels like it's dense and compact within.