Brassicas
Savoy cabbage
Brassica oleracea var. sabauda
Timings for your region
Suggested: Moderate · Explained in the glossary
Start indoorsearly March – late May
Plantingearly May – early July
Harvestearly August – late November
Practical tip
The hardiest of the heading cabbages — late varieties stand into December and sweeten with frost.
Origin & history
The German name goes back through northern Italian verza to Latin viridia, “the green stuff”; the botanical epithet sabauda and the English “savoy cabbage” both point to Savoy, where the crinkle-leaved form was described in the late Middle Ages. It reached Germany in the 16th and 17th centuries and long remained a vegetable of farmhouse winter cooking. The blisters and folds in the leaves arise because the tissue between the veins grows more strongly than the network of veins itself.
Varieties
Early savoy makes loose, light-green heads, grows fast and is not winter-hardy; winter savoy such as “Vertus” or “Winterfürst” has dark, heavily crinkled leaves and is bred to stand in the bed. It is worth reading that label closely — as young plants the two types look identical but behave completely differently. Both are available open-pollinated; savoy is not a purely F1 affair.
Care
Savoy is a hungry crop but takes less nitrogen than white cabbage — fed too richly the heads stay loose. Winter savoy has to be in the ground by early July, otherwise the head no longer closes before the days shorten. Leave the outer leaves on in autumn: they protect the heart from frost and always look battered anyway.
What can go wrong
The mealy cabbage aphid settles deep between the crinkled leaves and is practically impossible to wash out again — fine-mesh netting from planting day is the only reliable answer, and the stumps must come out in autumn so nothing overwinters. Slugs are especially fond of young savoy plants: pick them off during the first few weeks, after that the plant is tough enough. If the head stays open, either planting was too late or the spacing too tight.
Harvest, storage & kitchen
Cut it close to the ground and leave the coarse wrapper leaves in the bed. Whole leaves blanched for two to three minutes are the classic wrapper for stuffed cabbage rolls; the rest, cut into strips, needs only a few minutes in the pan because it cooks markedly faster than white cabbage. Savoy is poor at storing — two to three weeks in the cellar at most, so harvest it a head at a time as needed.
All timings are guide values for the given climate, not a guarantee. Weather, aspect and variety all have a say.