Brassica rapa var. rosularis
Tatsoi cabbage, spoon cabbage, flat Chinese cabbage, pak choi rosette: its distinctive feature is striking — it grows in a perfectly flat rosette, hugging the ground like a green star, with round, spoon-shaped leaves arranged in a spiral. It is also one of the hardiest leafy vegetables there is, capable of regrowing after temperatures as low as -10 °C.
Characteristics:
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Decorative flat rosette: dark green, round, spoon-shaped leaves arranged like a star close to the ground.
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Delicate flavor: mild and slightly mustardy, excellent raw or stir-fried.
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Very hardy: it tolerates frost and can be harvested in midwinter.
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Fast growth: 6 to 8 weeks from sowing to harvest.
Sowing advice:
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Exposure: sunny, but it dislikes warm conditions — favor the cooler seasons.
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Soil: rich, well-aerated, and kept moist. Add well-rotted organic fertilizer when preparing the soil. The critical point: the soil must never dry out, otherwise it will bolt immediately.
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Method: sow directly in place, 1 cm deep. The soil must be warmed for germination, but the crop should grow in cool conditions: therefore favor late-summer sowings (August–September) for an autumn and winter harvest, or sow in very early spring. See how to sow seeds.
Care advice:
- Thin to 20 cm apart — the rosette needs room to spread out flat. Water regularly and mulch.
- An insect-proof mesh effectively protects it from flea beetles, which pepper young leaves with holes.
Harvest advice:
- Harvest the outer leaves as needed, leaving the center to keep growing, or cut the entire rosette at the crown.
- Tip: leaves harvested after a light frost are noticeably milder and sweeter.
Beneficial companions:
Benefits for biodiversity:
- Its ground-hugging rosette forms a dense ground cover that protects the soil throughout winter, when the vegetable garden would otherwise be bare.
- If allowed to flower in spring, it produces clusters of highly nectar-rich yellow flowers, valuable during this transitional season.
Uses:
- Young leaves raw in salads, where their spoon shape looks attractive; larger leaves stir-fried in a wok, added to soups, or used in broths. Add them right at the end of cooking, as they cook in just a few seconds.
Saving your own seeds:
Let one plant go to seed in spring: it forms long pods that should be harvested when brown and dry. Be careful: Brassica rapa varieties cross easily with one another (turnips, pak choi, mizuna), so isolate your seed plant. See how to save your seeds.
Commitment to Quality: at SemiSauvage - Permaculture, we grow and select our seeds with respect for all living things as our guiding principle. Based near the Volcanoes of Auvergne, we choose open-pollinated, non-hybrid varieties, tested for germination rates, carefully sorted and packaged, with no chemical treatment. Our belief: to give gardeners back the ability to resow, year after year, seeds that truly belong to them.
A green star close to the ground, ready to harvest in midwinter.
