PICKLED red cabbage is one of the consolations of winter, cheerful and refreshing to the eye and the palate. And of course there are many other ways of using this sweet, crunchy vegetable, raw or cooked.

You can sow the seeds from late February to mid April. There are plenty of named cultivars to choose from, their differences often having to do with size, depth of colour, whether they mature earlier or later, and how likely they are to store well. A few seed catalogues sell mixed packets of various red cabbages, which might be a good way of discovering which one best suits your plot.

Seeds can be started outside in a seedbed of fine soil, or under cover in a tray or pot of seed compost. Thin them out as they grow so that each seedling is around four inches (10 cm) from its neighbours.