A Perennial Kale

I am growing kale this year for the first time. Can't even remember what kind it is, just dark green non-ruffled leaves. So far I just use it in my smoothies in the morning.

Most perennial kale is sort of fussy about climate. They like areas which stay cool and moist the year round but no prolonged freezes. They don't like hot temperatures or dry air. Think Pacific Northwest. I tried the walking stick kale here in San Diego and it was not happy at all. Biennial kales do better here and I grow them as greens for my rabbits. That gives me greens for a year and a half. When they flower the second year my rabbits go nutso over the flower heads.

I don't get it about Kale. It's like eating cardboard.

I agree with you. Collards has the same food value and is a lot better to eat and easier to grow.

Well in the case of the Kosmic Kale it is for easy propagation of new plants. When you harvest the Kosmic kale leaf a new plant grows out of the harvested node. After a few weeks that plant can simply be pulled off and put in soil - store it out of sunlight for a few weeks and you have a new plant.
On the topic of over wintering; it is generally understood that biennial kale will go to seed in the second year and then promptly die. So you don't get much of a harvest over two years - though I use my second year kale florets as a brocolli substitute. In the case of the perennial kales that are zone hardy, that isn't an issue as you well get several years (5+ or more) from your plant without any of the work.

Perennial kale require fewer nutrient amendments because their wide and deep root system developes over several years and mines enough nutrients over a large area, so they typically produce more year after year without any additional inputs. You get more energy out than energy you put in. This is absolutely true if you can grow purple tree collards as a perennial in your zone.

Perennial kale are also less likely to have pest issues. As a perennial they are generally considered more evolved than their annual cousins and have adapted to pest issues over ions or whatever.

Having said that, I do both. The perennial kale is a reliable crop that in the case of kosmic kale is a totally unique edible green. But dinosaur kale is amazingly tasty as well as a lot of the other varieties. In my garden I have at lease a dozen kale varieties from Dino kale to blue vates dwarf and the perennials.

Dino Kale and Violet Kale on the right.

Dwarf Siberian above the mint behind the strawberry.

I'll make a video on the topic and I'll post it to my youtube channel.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCupxmRhzQs14I8fSuLifT-w/videos

seedcorn said:

I don't get it about Kale. It's like eating cardboard.

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Sweet, then grow something else

Is anyone growing sea kale, I'm growing it for the first time this year from seed so it will be a couple of years before I can use it.
Annette

Kale just happens to be the "in" miracle food this year. Next year it will be something else.

I beg your pardon ... I like kale!

My mother was into health foods. It was something of a family thing. Her brother was featured in a health magazine back in the early 50's.

Mom wasn't into gardening like her brother and her own mother. So, she would send my brother or me out to the garden to collect "healthful greens" for dinner. That caused me to lose my interest in chard.

What were we talking about ..? No, chard was really quick and easy to collect and wash because of those big leaves. There was always some available ... so, we'd collect the chard rather than the spinach or anything that took a little more effort ... Burned out on chard before the US put a man on the moon .

aftermidnight said:

Is anyone growing sea kale, I'm growing it for the first time this year from seed so it will be a couple of years before I can use it.
Annette

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I saw someone refer to Portuguese kale as sea kale. I hope as fads come and go, we don't lose interest in what is good. It isn't as tho some of these veggies are so unusual. (Real sea kale
Crambe maritima may be unusual for some, some places and is an unknown for me). Some of the kales are about as close cousins to cabbage as possible! Just as there are Jersey Wakefield, Savoy and Late Dutch; there are "different kales." It's like a lot of things, experience sometimes stimulates interest, sometimes not.

Steve

I first saw this on "The Victorian Vegetable Garden", and thought I'd like to try it so bought seed for Crambe maritima the real sea kale this spring, said to be a little difficult to germinate I was quite pleased that out of the 15 seeds I planted I got 12 plants. Now the waiting game, I want to try covering to blanch the stems and cook like asparagus when the plants are big enough.

Description from Victoriana Nursery Gardens....

"Seakale long predates Victorian times and was once very popular, however doesn't seem to be so widely available now. It is sometimes grown as an ornamental vegetable but is edible.
The blanched shoots, young flower heads and very young leaves can be eaten raw or the leaf midribs cooked and eaten like Asparagus; forced Seakale is also a real delicacy.
It is best if picked and eaten, rather than stored."

Annette