Garden Vegetable - Kale

Botanical Information

Starting

Notes:

A very easily grown plant, succeeding in full sun in a well-drained fertile preferably alkaline soil. Prefers a heavy soil but succeeds in any reasonable soil. Shade tolerant, growing well on a north border. Succeeds in maritime gardens. Tolerates a pH in the range 4.2 to 8.3. A very hardy plant, tolerating temperatures down to about 5°F. It also tolerates high summer temperatures.
Often cultivated for its edible leaves, the kales are especially useful for providing leaves throughout the winter and spring as they are fairly cold tolerant. There are several named forms and some forms have been especially selected for their ornamental foliage, though these tend to be of poor culinary quality.

Propagation: Seed - sow in a seedbed outdoors in April/May. Plant out into their permanent locations in the summer as space permits. Do not let the seedlings get overcrowded or they will soon become leggy. If your seedlings do get leggy, it is possible to plant them deeper into the soil - the buried stems will soon form roots and the plant will be better supported.