Kale

This smoky blue lacinato type kale has become a favorite of gardeners and market farmers. Bred by Hank Keogh of Avoca Farms, Dazzling Blue kale is considered a prime example of the renaissance in modern open-source plant breeding. It boasts unparalleled cold hardiness and fantastic purple and blue leaves.

• 6-12 hours of Sun
• Sprouts in 6-9 Days
• Ideal Temperature: 45-85 Degrees F
• Seed Depth: 1/4"
  
• Plant Spacing: 8"
• Frost Hardy: Yes
  
• Brassica oleracea
  

Growing Tips: Best grown in frosts of spring or fall. Direct seed or transplant 2-4 weeks in spring or 8 weeks in fall before frosts dates. Prefers rich soil.

50 days. This tasty Russian variety produces leaves that are only slightly frilled and of top quality. 16-inch plants are very hardy and productive. Tasty and full of nutrients, this plant is a super hardy variety for extended harvests!

• 6-12 hours of Sun
• Sprouts in 6-9 Days
• Ideal Temperature: 45-85 Degrees F
• Seed Depth: 1/4"
  
• Plant Spacing: 8"
• Frost Hardy: Yes
  
• Brassica oleracea var. sabellica
  

Growing Tips: Best grown in frosts of spring or fall. Direct seed or transplant 2-4 weeks in spring or 8 weeks in fall before frosts dates. Prefers rich soil.

85 days. Japanese Flowering Kale is perhaps the most colorful edible leafy green we have ever eaten, and one of the most delicious! This delectable kale has dramatic ruffles, sublime flavor and dense nutrition. The bold fuchsia and cream-colored leaves add a depth of sweetness and refinement, making it exceptionally gourmet. The culinary possibilities for such a vibrant and delectable vegetable are boundless. Called habotan in Japan, this edible ornamental treat is a focal point for cool-weather landscaping and garden design. The plants are super frost hardy, and their color and sweetness actually intensify as the weather gets colder! It is not uncommon to see the cheerful magenta and white-splashed heads of habotan effortlessly floating above a blanket of snow in winter. Habotan symbolizes blessings, loving and prosperity, sentiments that are especially appreciated during the Japanese New Year. The colorful kale heads are a common feature in Japanese cool-season gardens to invite blessings for the coming year. The pretty, rosette-shaped plants can be found in beds and borders, and they are a popular potted plant. This is an antioxidant-rich plant that will dazzle in the garden and delight on the dinner plate.

• 6-12 hours of Sun
• Sprouts in 6-9 Days
• Ideal Temperature: 45-85 Degrees F
• Seed Depth: 1/4"
  
• Plant Spacing: 14"
• Frost Hardy: Yes
  
• Brassica oleracea var. acephala
  

Growing Tips: Best grown in frosts of spring or fall. Direct seed or transplant 2-4 weeks in spring or 8 weeks in fall before frosts dates. Prefers rich soil.

60 days. Also known as Black Palm Tree, Dinosaur, and Lacinato Kale, this loose-leafed cabbage dates back at least to the early 1800s. It has beautiful, heavily savoyed, deep black-green leaves that can be 24" long. This Italian heirloom is popular in Tuscany and central Italy for making fabulous soups and stews. This is one of the most beautiful and flavorful types you can grow, and one of the healthiest vegetables we ever tested! It can have up to three times the recommended daily vitamin A, plus loads of minerals, calcium, and vitamin C, as well as lots of fiber and protein. A truly a miraculous plant from historic Italy!

• Full Sun
• Sprouts in 7-10 Days
• Seed Depth: 1/4"
• Ideal Temperature: 50-75 F
• Plant Spacing: 10" 
• Frost Hardy: Yes
• Brassica oleracea

Growing Tips: Prefers cool weather and ample, even moisture. Sow seeds or set transplants into rich soil. Time plantings for spring or fall harvest.

From Portugal, Germany, and China, kale has made traditional soups and provided people with their staple greens. While Red Ursa is a relatively new addition to the rainbow of kales, its roots run deep. The Red Russian and Siberian kales originate from northern Europe and northern Asia, and some of the varieties have been traced back to Russian traders migrating to Canada in the late 1800s. Kale is a crop that has evolved and cross-pollinated over the years, and Frank Morton of Wild Garden Seed in Corvallis, Oregon, has kept this tradition going with his kale breeding efforts. In the ‘90s he crossed a Siberian Kale with a Red Russian Kale to form what is now Red Ursa. In 1997, Red Ursa was entered into the National Variety trials and chosen as one of the top five vegetables of the year! This extra frilly version of a Red Russian kale with striking dark red to purple stems and rich green leaves. Tastes like kale should with meaty leaves complemented by a sweet stem. A delight eaten raw or cooked. (65 days to maturity, 24-inches tall and wide).

• 6-12 hours of Sun
• Sprouts in 6-9 Days
• Ideal Temperature: 45-85 Degrees F
• Seed Depth: 1/4"
  
• Plant Spacing: 8"
• Frost Hardy: Yes
  
• Brassica oleracea var. sabellica
  

Growing Tips: Best grown in frosts of spring or fall. Direct seed or transplant 2-4 weeks in spring or 8 weeks in fall before frosts dates. Prefers rich soil.

50 days. A highly nutritious kale variety with eye-catching color and form, Russian red is very tender and mild at any size, but especially well suited to use as baby greens. The oak-type leaves of this pre-1885 heirloom variety have a red tinge, and the stems are purplish-red, adding color to the garden and the dinner plate!

• 6-12 hours of Sun
• Sprouts in 6-9 Days
• Ideal Temperature: 45-85 Degrees F
• Seed Depth: 1/4"
  
• Plant Spacing: 8"
• Frost Hardy: Yes
  
• Brassica oleracea var. sabellica
  

Growing Tips: Best grown in frosts of spring or fall. Direct seed or transplant 2-4 weeks in spring or 8 weeks in fall before frosts dates. Prefers rich soil.

A lovely curled “red” kale that produces lots of delicious, frilly leaves and takes the chill of winter in stride! Pretty in the flower garden or on the plate. Rich in nutrition and flavor. In our preliminary tests, it had almost as much vitamin C as oranges, the most of any kale we tested in 2020. A true super-food that is so pretty!

• 6-12 hours of Sun
• Sprouts in 6-9 Days
• Ideal Temperature: 45-85 Degrees F
• Seed Depth: 1/4"
  
• Plant Spacing: 8"
• Frost Hardy: Yes
  
• Brassica oleracea var. sabellica
  

Growing Tips: Best grown in frosts of spring or fall. Direct seed or transplant 2-4 weeks in spring or 8 weeks in fall before frosts dates. Prefers rich soil.

Grow mammoth-sized kale that remains tender even as the leaves grow to an astounding 3 feet long. In “The Vegetable Garden” in 1885, French seed house Vilmorin mentioned this ancient variety from the U.K. as a productive, multi-branching type that also goes by the name “branching borecole.” Vilmorin also noted that the variety originally hailed from western France. Peter Miller of Kings Seed mentioned that Thousandhead kale was long appreciated in the UK as a fodder crop, but it has been rediscovered as a tasty culinary variety. Its leaf structure also makes for easier pest management. Those who have struggled with cabbage worms understand how caterpillars love to hide in the folds of curly kale leaves. This variety is just lightly curled at the edges, making caterpillars easier to spot and treat! This seed was sourced from Kings Seed of England; the King family has been in the seed business for centuries. John Kemp King began selling seeds in 1793; his grandson Ernest William began Kings Seeds, and it has been in business for 130 years! Kings Seed is the last remaining horticultural wholesale seed house in England and is still a family affair. Miller has worked for the company 55 years, and his grandfather also worked for Kings since 1913!

• 6-12 hours of Sun
• Sprouts in 6-9 Days
• Ideal Temperature: 45-85 Degrees F
• Seed Depth: 1/4"
  
• Plant Spacing: 8"
• Frost Hardy: Yes
  
• Brassica oleracea
  

Growing Tips: Best grown in frosts of spring or fall. Direct seed or transplant 2-4 weeks in spring or 8 weeks in fall before frosts dates. Prefers rich soil.

Couve tonchuda or Portuguese Kale. A bit more heat tolerant than other kales, for a longer harvest period on either end of winter season. Leaves are large, flat, rounded, similar to collard, but very large and with very prominent white veins, earning some strains a variety name of “costata,” meaning “ribbed.” The leaves are more succulent, and the flavor is more cabbage-like than other kales. The fleshy stems or petioles are enjoyed as well. Definitely an exciting addition to an already illustrious group.

• 6-12 hours of Sun
• Sprouts in 6-9 Days
• Ideal Temperature: 45-85 Degrees F
• Seed Depth: 1/4"
  
• Plant Spacing: 8"
• Frost Hardy: Yes
  
• Brassica oleracea var. tronchuda
  

Growing Tips: Best grown in frosts of spring or fall. Direct seed or transplant 2-4 weeks in spring or 8 weeks in fall before frosts dates. Prefers rich soil.

Walking Stick kale is the stuff of legend. We remember reading about this fascinating plant in the seed catalogs of yesteryear. Also known as Tall Jacks, Jersey Cabbage or Cow Cabbage, this extra-tall kale is said to grow up to 20 feet in its native range, with an average of 6-12 feet in our gardens. Grown in Europe for centuries, mostly on the island of Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands, where its long sturdy stalks were varnished and turned into canes. The leaves are also considered excellent forage for animals with the most tender, young greens reserved for table use. Its many unusual uses, coupled with its strikingly tall stature, make it a standout variety from antiquity that we are delighted to see reintroduced to home growers.

• 6-12 hours of Sun
• Sprouts in 6-9 Days
• Ideal Temperature: 45-85 Degrees F
• Seed Depth: 1/4"
  
• Plant Spacing: 8"
• Frost Hardy: Yes
  
• Brassica oleracea
  

Growing Tips: Best grown in frosts of spring or fall. Direct seed or transplant 2-4 weeks in spring or 8 weeks in fall before frosts dates. Prefers rich soil.