Un jardin à Sacy: Planting cabbages

The cabbages were planted out on Wednesday, just before the storms. I used an old-fashioned technique recommend by Val Bourne in The Telegraph called "puddling-in;" Young cabbages (and, I assume, other similar brassicas) may benefit from being planting into a deep hole filled with water.

I gathered some compost, spread a small heap at the spot of each planting and dug it in with my trowel to a depth of one foot (the soil is quite rich and has ideal structure so I only had to stir in the extra compost to benefit the young cabbages.)

I dug a hole deep enough to drop each plant to just below its bottom leaves. Cabbages benefit from being planted as deeply as possible. I even removed the bottom few leaves before planting so I could plant a little deeper. The plants were raised in my nursery here at Sacy, in a mix of our own compost and our own garden soil, and some builders sand from the works down the road. They should be quite at home in the potager.

I filled the holes with water, which reminded me of making mud swimming pools in the garden for fairies and elves (and my very visible turtles) when I was little. Into each muddy puddle-- plop!-- goes a seedling, up to just below its bottom leaves. Hurrah! I gently smooth the earth at the base. The cabbages will be very happy in their new home!