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  • cabbages

    Hi all, I am a new member and have a question- Why are my January Kings bolting, they looked like they were finally going to heart last month but leaves have now started separating. They are not huge but a respectable size! Can I save them?
    No matter:the allotment is lovely, the tadpoles have legs, my sea kale has germinated and I am glad to be home.

  • #2
    January King, from their name, are autumn and winter heading cabbage, sown in the late spring or summer. So by definition they are going to go up to seed in the spring.

    Nothing you do now will make them heart up, but why not just harvest the shoots before they start flowering, as these taste just like kale, sprout shoots or broccoli. If you cut the early shoots then the plant will go on producing some more sprouting greens for several weeks. Excellent eating at a time when there is little else in the garden.
    Last edited by BertieFox; 29-03-2015, 12:13 PM.

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    • #3
      I actually leave lots of my brassicas to start sprouting - I've got kale, pak choi and a couple of cabbages (yup, January King ) all obligingly giving me some yummy sprouting bits to add to the broccoli now. I love them .
      sigpicGardening in France rocks!

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      • #4
        Originally posted by kathyd View Post
        I actually leave lots of my brassicas to start sprouting - I've got kale, pak choi and a couple of cabbages (yup, January King ) all obligingly giving me some yummy sprouting bits to add to the broccoli now. I love them .
        One of the best things over here, when all else fails, is Forager Kale. You get huge plants with fleshy leaves but when they start to sprout in spring and you cut the sprouts when they are still young, they are delicious. Certainly too good to waste on livestock!

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        • #5
          Thank you

          I have also been eating resprouts off many of my brassicas but was hoping for one good cabbage- first year on alottment and late to put cabbages in I think. Have only just started keeping records. Cavolo nero and curly kale have done well, psb has taken a big pidgeon hit and brussels were not very successful. Am getting lovely sproutings from cut caulis- they were small but delicious.
          Any advice very welcome, I'm making it up as i go along at the moment!
          No matter:the allotment is lovely, the tadpoles have legs, my sea kale has germinated and I am glad to be home.

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          • #6
            Hi Kris & welcome to the Jungle, it's fine to make it up as you go along, I've been doing just that for the last five years or so.................
            sigpic“Gorillas are very intelligent, but they don't have to be as delicate as chimps -- they can just smash open the termite nest,”
            --------------------------------------------------------------------
            Official Member Of The Nutters Club - Rwanda Branch.
            -------------------------------------------------------------------
            Sent from my ZX Spectrum with no predictive text..........
            -----------------------------------------------------------
            KOYS - King Of Yellow Stickers..............

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            • #7
              Also, once you are sick of eating the sprouts let a few flower - loved by the early bees.
              My spring greens are bolting already
              Le Sarramea https://jgsgardening.blogspot.com/

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              • #8
                Originally posted by PyreneesPlot View Post
                Also, once you are sick of eating the sprouts let a few flower - loved by the early bees.
                My spring greens are bolting already
                Great idea! I grow as many flowers as i can for the bees but they are a bit thin at the moment- some daffs and tulips just coming through.
                No matter:the allotment is lovely, the tadpoles have legs, my sea kale has germinated and I am glad to be home.

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by kris1960 View Post
                  Hi all, I am a new member and have a question- Why are my January Kings bolting, they looked like they were finally going to heart last month but leaves have now started separating. They are not huge but a respectable size! Can I save them?
                  When did you plant them out? I always do that in June and they form the head before winter comes in. They then stand well and get eaten over winter. If you want ones that heart up in spring you need to go for spring cabbages. I sow mine August and they're now starting to heart up.

                  Some of us live in the past, always talking about back then. Some of us live in the future, always planning what we are going to do. And, then there are those, who neither look behind or ahead, but just enjoy the moment of right now.

                  Which one are you and is it how you want to be?

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                  • #10
                    Have only just started keeping proper records but went back to photos- seedlings planted at beginning of September with beetroot seedlings in between and chard around border edge. I think that I had the bright idea of using them for ground cover to keep soil more moist and more weedfree than it would otherwise have been!
                    Will try to learn by my myriad mistakes this year, I was always playing 'catch up' last year!
                    No matter:the allotment is lovely, the tadpoles have legs, my sea kale has germinated and I am glad to be home.

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Alison View Post
                      When did you plant them out? I always do that in June and they form the head before winter comes in. They then stand well and get eaten over winter. If you want ones that heart up in spring you need to go for spring cabbages. I sow mine August and they're now starting to heart up.
                      Have only just started keeping proper records but went back to photos- seedlings planted at beginning of September with beetroot seedlings in between and chard around border edge. I think that I had the bright idea of using them for ground cover to keep soil more moist and more weedfree than it would otherwise have been!
                      Will try to learn by my myriad mistakes this year, I was always playing 'catch up' last year!
                      No matter:the allotment is lovely, the tadpoles have legs, my sea kale has germinated and I am glad to be home.

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                      • #12
                        I'm not a cabbage expert, as I tend to eat most of mine as spring greens anyway, but it is my understanding that they heart better if they are planted very firmly. I could be wrong though.
                        A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP. - Leonard Nimoy

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                        • #13
                          Thanks Pen will firm soil this year and plant at correct time! Am still hoping for good psb after the pidgeons have their turn.
                          No matter:the allotment is lovely, the tadpoles have legs, my sea kale has germinated and I am glad to be home.

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