Ever been told to “eat your greens?” Kale is one of the most nutritious vegetables you can grow. It’s crammed with vitamins and powerful antioxidants, and it tastes de-licious. Kale is a hardy cool-season crop that grows best in spring and fall, tolerating frost and even snow. Learn how to plant, grow, and harvest kale.
About Kale
Kale is a cold-hardy, resilient, non-heading green. It’s one of the easiest members of the brassica family to grow (which includes cabbage, broccoli, brussels sprouts, and other common cole crops.)
A biennial (2-year) plant, kale produces leaves in the first year, and then, in the next year (or sometimes late in the first year), it will form a flower stalk. The stalk forms flowers and then seeds. Once the seeds mature, the plant dies.
Think beyond grocery store kale; there are so many amazing kale flavors and textures to choose from if you grow your own seed: mild, almost salad-like greens, sweet ‘Red Russian’ kales, or the nutty and sometimes peppery flavors of Italian kales, or handsome ‘Cavalo Nero’ or Tuscan kale, also called dinosaur kale because of its texture.
As well as being extremely nutritious, kale is attractive, coming in a stunning range of varieties, from bright greens to dark purples, crunchy leaves to crinkled beauties, and everything in between. Its ornamental value can be appreciated in traditional garden beds or containers, especially in the fall.
While easy to grow, there are a few crucial things to get right if you want to enjoy a truly bumper crop of health-boosting leaves. Read on for our guide to growing kale.
