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Cabbage is in season in Australia in winter and is usually stocked in stores and markets until September. Although supply may slow in summer, many cabbage varieties are available year-round and will always be locally grown because we don’t actually import any fresh cabbage into Australia.
Cabbage season runs through the winter months in Australia, with the peak season typically occurring between April and August. It is a winter vegetable, which explains why you see cabbage in lots of hearty dishes and stews.
Cabbages prefer temperate climates and winter in southern Australia offers ideal conditions for these vegetables to flourish. It is considered a biennial plant but in Australia it is usually grown as an annual crop.
The optimal cabbage planting season in Australia is between 60 and 90 days before the proposed harvest season. In a typical cabbage growing season that means seedlings would get planted in late summer for a winter harvest, though the process and duration depends on the region and cabbage variety.
Red cabbage is in season in Australia during winter. Some red cabbage varieties have a shorter growing season than green cabbages so can be harvested earlier or planted later. They require ample sunlight to develop the distinctive red-purple colouring and some varieties prefer a slightly warmer growing season.
Savoy cabbage is in season in Australia during winter. The smaller varieties share a similar growing season to green cabbages but larger varieties will take slightly longer to mature. They can be more affected by black rot in the presence of too much moisture.
Chinese cabbage is in season in Australia during autumn and winter. In other growing countries this group may be referred to as napa cabbage and in Australia it is often called wombok cabbage. It is fast growing requiring as little as 8 weeks to mature and so they are usually more prevalent at the start of the cabbage growing season and is commonly considered an autumn vegetable.
Kohlrabi is in season in winter in Australia. It has a shorter growing season than green cabbages, usually harvested around 8-10 weeks after planting. While most of the growing conditions are similar, the key part of kohlrabi is the stem, so they require more spacing between plants to allow the bulbs to develop properly.
Cabbage probably originates from the Mediterranean region and came to Australia with the first European settlers. When the leaves are left on the cabbages can last for one or two months so it would have been a logical choice for settlers to transport.
Cabbage prefers cool to mild climates, so the main growing areas are in the southern parts of Queensland and southern states of NSW and Victoria where the winter months offer ideal conditions. Each of these states contribute around one third each of the cabbage supply in Winter, while Western Australia also has a smaller harvest after the peak of the eastern season.
