Savoy Cabbage

Savoy cabbage, which has dark green leaves that are curly or crinkly, grows best on rich, heavy, firm soil that has been deeply cultivated.

The autumn before you plant savoy cabbages, you can prepare the land.

You can then grow a catch crop, such as peas or potatoes, before you plant the cabbages.

Give this catch crop an abundant supply of farmyard manure. Potassium sulfate and superphosphate should also be added to heavy soils, and Kainit and superphosphate to light soils.

Once you harvest the catch crop, you will only have to cultivate the land shallowly and then harrow it and roll it.

This will keep the soil firm.

You can begin sowing savoy cabbage seeds in mid-March, then sow seeds later on at the beginning and the end of April.

In some places, growers sow seeds of varieties that mature early in August so they can plant out in March the next year and cut the crop in September.

Sow the seeds on a seedbed in holes that are 8 feet apart.

Thin the seedlings after they come up, so the plants do not become overcrowded.

Dust the seedlings with hydrated lime and hoe the rows occasionally.

Planting out usually takes place in June or July.

In dry weather, puddle the roots - place them in holes that you have filled with water.

Place the savoy cabbage plants in rows ranging from 18 ½ inches to 2 feet apart, depending upon how strongly they grow.

You can add Chilean potassium nitrate to the soil in August.

If it is wet and cold, you may add another application in about a month.

After you apply the fertilizer, hoe the soil.

You can usually begin cutting the earliest savoys in September. The latest savoy cabbages are cut in March.