The Filderkraut gets really large, and the heads are delicious to eat raw or cooked.

This lovely cabbage has been growing in my kitchen garden all summer. This is my fourth year growing this huge pointed cabbage variety called Filderkraut. I really like it! People get so impressed by the sheer size of it. But how do you grow such large cabbage heads at home?

Keep mulching

Mulching has been the key to my success with the cabbages this summer, when it has been so incredibly dry and hot. My cabbages are growing in large mulch mounds on top of high quality soil in my beds. I started preparing my cabbage beds around this time last year, by adding a lot of mulch. I did the same this year. I hope that my cabbages will have better conditions next year, hopefully cooler and less dry then.

Read more about mulching here: Soil analysis part 2: Mulching works!

My pointed cabbage has been struggling a bit this dry summer.

Another cabbage head has collapsed under its own weight. I harvested this cabbage head to make cabbage rolls.

Filderkraut is a late and very large pointed cabbage variety. The head usually has a distinct and very pointy tip, but this one seems to have taken a blow or two. I think I might have damaged it while removing maggots quite far inside of the head this summer. Well, I'm ok with it. I would rather have a slightly scruffy cabbage head than have it all go to the worms!

I forgot to weigh my cabbage! It's not especially tightly packed, so it's not too heavy. Filderkraut is actually a great variety to make cabbage rolls with, since the leaves are so large but not too tightly wrapped around the head. The leaves are actually quite easy to remove. For cabbage rolls, I just cut the nerve off close to the root. Then I boil the leaves two and two for just a few minutes before filling them. This will make the leaves nice and soft, but I can still fold them without them breaking. The recipe comes from my mother, I might add the recipe to the blog so you can make it too, if you want to. Stay tuned!

My cabbage patch in mid-October. There are lots of cabbage heads despite the frosty nights. These are mostly savoy cabbages, and a few pointed ones.

Distinct taste

Would you like to grow pointed cabbage next year too? Filderkraut is like I mentioned earlier a late and quite hardy variety. The cabbages this year have survived a few very cold nights and still look great. This variety has a distinct taste (it's not among the milder ones taste-wise) with tender and crispy leaves. They taste great cooked as well as raw!

Since Filderkraut is so large, you might want to go for smaller varieties if you don't have that much space in your garden. I especially like the variety Early Jersey Wakefield. You can sow both of them in winter outdoors, if you need to save some indoor space.

More about growing cabbage: Growing cabbage from sowing to harvest

The cabbage head looks lovely when the sepals have been removed.

I feel really proud of being able to grow and cook such amazing food for my family!

So how did the cabbage rolls turn out then? Well, they were simply delicious! We eat them with a cream sauce and lingonberries, the traditional Swedish way. I got inspired and decided to top the dinner off with homemade banana ice cream and a chocolate sauce. I got a lot of mommy points for that!

If you want to read and see more from my garden, check out Sara's Kitchen Garden here:

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Facebook group: The Kitchen Garden - Worldwide
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Good luck with your cabbage and bon appetit!
/Sara Bäckmo