Golden Acre Cabbage
Brassica oleracea var. capitata 'Golden Acre'
A compact, early-maturing cabbage that's perfect for small gardens and beginning gardeners seeking reliable results. This variety produces perfectly round, solid heads with sweet, crisp leaves and has the advantage of maturing quickly without taking up excessive garden space. An excellent choice for succession planting and container growing.
Harvest
65-75d
Days to harvest
Sun
Full sun to partial shade
Zones
6–9
USDA hardiness
Height
10-24 inches
Planting Timeline
Showing dates for Golden Acre Cabbage in USDA Zone 7
All Zone 7 brassica →Zone Map
Click a state to update dates
Golden Acre Cabbage · Zones 6–9
Growing Details
Zone-by-Zone Planting Calendar
| Zone | Indoor Start | Transplant | Direct Sow | Harvest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zone 3 | March – April | May – June | May – June | July – October |
| Zone 4 | March – April | May – June | April – June | July – October |
| Zone 5 | February – March | April – May | April – May | June – November |
| Zone 6 | February – March | April – May | April – May | June – November |
| Zone 7 | February – March | April – May | March – May | May – November |
| Zone 8 | January – February | March – April | March – April | May – December |
| Zone 9 | January – January | February – March | February – March | April – December |
| Zone 10 | January – January | February – March | January – March | March – December |
Complete Growing Guide
Light: Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day), Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours). Soil: Clay, Loam (Silt), Sand. Soil pH: Acid (<6.0), Neutral (6.0-8.0). Drainage: Good Drainage, Moist. Height: 0 ft. 10 in. - 2 ft. 0 in.. Spread: 1 ft. 0 in. - 2 ft. 0 in.. Spacing: 12 inches-3 feet. Growth rate: Medium. Maintenance: Medium. Propagation: Seed, Stem Cutting. Regions: Coastal, Mountains, Piedmont.
Harvesting
The fruits dry and split when ripe.
Color: Brown/Copper, Green. Type: Siliqua. Length: > 3 inches.
Garden value: Edible
Harvest time: Fall, Summer
Bloom time: Spring, Summer
Edibility: The foliage is edible raw or cooked but when cooked can emit an unpleasant odor.
Storage & Preservation
Fresh Golden Acre cabbages store exceptionally well when harvested with outer wrapper leaves intact. Remove damaged outer leaves but keep 2-3 clean ones for protection. Store in your refrigerator's crisper drawer at 32-40°F with high humidity—they'll maintain quality for 3-4 months, longer than most early varieties.
For longer preservation, Golden Acre's tender leaves excel in sauerkraut and kimchi fermentation. The sweet, mild flavor develops beautifully during fermentation. Blanch and freeze quartered heads for 8-10 months of storage, though texture becomes softer. Dehydrate thinly sliced leaves for soup mixes and seasoning blends. The compact heads also work perfectly for small-batch pickled cabbage, maintaining their crisp texture better than larger varieties when processed in pint jars.
History & Origin
Golden Acre cabbage traces its lineage to the Copenhagen Market variety, developed in the early 1900s through careful selection for smaller size and faster maturity. Plant breeders in the 1920s specifically created Golden Acre to meet the growing demand from urban gardeners with limited space who still wanted reliable, full-sized flavor in a compact package.
This heirloom variety gained popularity during the Depression era when families needed maximum nutrition from small garden plots. The 'Golden' in its name refers not to color but to its valuable combination of traits—early maturity, compact size, and exceptional reliability. By the 1940s, Golden Acre had become a standard in American seed catalogs and victory gardens.
The variety represents classic American plant breeding philosophy: practical improvement for real gardeners rather than commercial agriculture. Unlike modern hybrids bred for shipping and storage, Golden Acre was developed for home gardeners who valued flavor, reliability, and the ability to save seeds from their best plants, maintaining its genetic stability across generations.
Advantages
- +Attracts: The foliage is edible raw or cooked but when cooked can emit an unpleasant odor.
- +Wildlife value: It serves as a host plant for butterflies, moths, flies, sawflies and beetles.
- +Edible: The foliage is edible raw or cooked but when cooked can emit an unpleasant odor.
Companion Plants
Plant Together
Dill
Attracts beneficial insects like parasitic wasps that control cabbage worms
Onions
Repels cabbage moths, aphids, and other brassica pests with strong sulfur compounds
Marigolds
Deters cabbage worms, aphids, and nematodes while attracting beneficial predatory insects
Nasturtiums
Acts as trap crop for aphids and flea beetles, drawing pests away from cabbage
Celery
Repels cabbage white butterflies and improves growth through complementary root systems
Thyme
Deters cabbage worms and flea beetles while attracting beneficial pollinators
Spinach
Provides living mulch and utilizes different soil nutrients without competing
Garlic
Natural fungicide properties help prevent clubroot and black rot diseases
Keep Apart
Tomatoes
Compete for similar nutrients and may stunt cabbage growth through root competition
Strawberries
Cabbage can inhibit strawberry growth and both attract similar soil-borne diseases
Pole Beans
Tall growth creates excessive shade and competes for nitrogen that cabbage needs
Rue
Allelopathic compounds inhibit brassica growth and development
Nutrition Facts
Per 100g serving. % Daily Value based on 2,000 calorie diet. Source: USDA FoodData Central (FDC #169975)
Pests & Disease Resistance
Resistance
Good splitting resistance, moderate disease tolerance
Common Pests
Cabbage worms, aphids, flea beetles, root maggots
Diseases
Clubroot, black rot, downy mildew, fusarium yellows