Cabbage, Celery & Beetroot
Celery scent helps protect cabbage from the cabbage white butterfly, and beetroot fills the row edges.
Season timeline
- Start cabbage and celery indoors
- Direct-sow the beetroot
- Plant out cabbage and celery
- Harvest the beetroot
- Harvest the celery
- Harvest the cabbages
- Clear the bed
Bed layout
Crops in this bed
Step by step
- Start cabbage and celery indoorsMar
Sow both in trays in March; celery needs light to germinate, so barely cover the seed.
- Direct-sow the beetrootApr–May
Sow beetroot along the bed edges once the soil has warmed a little.
- Plant out cabbage and celeryMay
Set cabbage at wide spacing and tuck celery between the heads; water both in well.
- Harvest the beetrootJul–Aug
Pull the roots young, at tennis-ball size, when they are most tender.
- Harvest the celerySep–Oct
Lift celery as needed before hard frosts arrive.
- Harvest the cabbagesSep–Nov
Cut the heads once they feel firm; late varieties stand well into November.
- Clear the bedNov
Remove stalks and outer leaves; compost only healthy material to keep clubroot out of the rotation.
Harvest calendar
| Crop | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cabbage | Cabbage: Sep | Cabbage: Oct | Cabbage: Nov | |||||||||
| Celery | Celery: Sep | Celery: Oct | ||||||||||
| Beet | Beet: Jul | Beet: Aug |
The bed over the season
- Cabbage · Sowing
- Cabbage · Growing
- Cabbage · Harvest
- Celery · Sowing
- Celery · Growing
- Celery · Harvest
- Beet · Sowing
- Beet · Growing
- Beet · Harvest
Why this combination works
The cabbage white butterfly finds its host plants by smell, and the strong aroma of celery planted between the heads helps mask them — a classic pairing from traditional kitchen gardens. Beetroot tolerates the light shade at the row edges and uses space the big brassicas never fill. The three crops also mature in sequence: beetroot leaves the bed first, celery follows in autumn and the cabbage stands longest. That staggered harvest keeps a demanding-looking bed surprisingly easy to manage.
Tips
Cabbage and celery are both hungry crops — work compost into the bed before planting. Never let celery dry out or the stalks turn stringy. Cover the young cabbages with insect netting in the first weeks for extra protection. Twist beetroot leaves off instead of cutting, so the roots do not bleed.