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~ KALE ~

For those of you who don't grow Kale - you should! An easily-grown plant, it is a great cooked 'green' for winter,
and the young leaves are also fantastic in salads.




plant pictureRed Ruffled Kale

Another amazing new kale from kale expert Frank Morton, bred specifically for home gardeners. It has delicious leaves, with pretty red veins, which become gently ruffled as it gets bigger. The shape and colour look great both in the garden and on the plate.

Pick the leaves in winter as a normal kale, but in spring it will also produce delicious flower sprouts, just like a kale version of sprouting broccoli. These "napini" are a welcome harvest from late March through April and even May. Yum!

A very rare variety, not available commercially - this seed crop was grown for us by Debbie Rees at Blaenfoss in Pembrokeshire, after she completed the Gaia Foundation seed growers' training course.

Beautiful and tasty; what more could you want from a kale?

approx 200 seed £

Stock:

When? For sowing in spring, transplant out when bigger, and harvest in autumn / overwinter.

Small screen: Turn your device sideways to view sowing calendar.



= normal sowing & harvest time = also possible depending on conditions



plant picture Nero Di Toscana (Early strain)

A traditional variety from Tuscany, also known as Palm Kale or Black Tuscan. The long leaves are quite deeply savoyed, but not as frilly as curly kale, so much more resistant to aphids and whitefly.

Normally used as a cooked vegetable, but this has such a nice flavour that we eat the thinnings and baby leaves raw in salad.

As well as sowing in Spring , you can also sow it in a polytunnel in late summer/early autumn and pick a few leaves at a time all winter when other salad ingredients are scarce. When it finally bolts, the flower shoots are a gourmet treat raw or cooked.

Delicious. Sow spring/summer for use late summer through into winter.

200 seed, organic £

Stock:


Small screen: Turn your device sideways to view sowing calendar.



= normal sowing & harvest time = also possible depending on conditions



plant picture Dazzling Blue Kale

An amazing kale bred specially for home gardeners by Hank Keogh at Gathering Together Farm, this is a blue-green palm kale with a striking pink midrib. This one is a real performer and has become one of our most reliable kales in the garden.

It performs really well, and tastes great - like a Tuscan kale but with a lighter & fresher flavour; probably the best-tasting kale we've got.

Eye-catching , excellent flavour and very winter hardy..

250 seed £

Stock:

Small screen: Turn your device sideways to view sowing calendar.



= normal sowing & harvest time = also possible depending on conditions



plant pictureAsparagus Kale

We are pleased to introduce this hardy grey-green kale that has been selected for its profusion of tender shoots in spring. While you can take leaves to eat as you would with any kale, this variety has particularly sweet tasty sprouts in spring, like a green version of sprouting broccoli.

Keep picking them so it doesn’t stop production. Seed produced for us by Debbie Rees at Blaenffos.

250 seed £

Stock:



= normal sowing & harvest time = also possible depending on conditions



plant pictureSutherland Kale ("Càil Cataibh" in Gaelic)

Back in 2003 we were sent a small sample of kale seed by Vicky Schilling, of Ullapool, with the following note attached:


We tried it out and were really impressed. It is the most vigorous and resilient kale we have seen. It shrugged off attack by aphids, cabbage white caterpillars, ravenous goats, and 70 mph freezing sleet overwinter. In each case it sprang back, growing new leaves with no trouble in spring when at its most valuable. And when it starts flower, the shoots are good to eat too, very much like sprouting broccoli shoots.

In 2007 we recieved a bit more history about this kale, from Vicky, who has been researching the background of the Kale she sent us:


A real success of home seed-saving. This was extinct other than the few seeds given to us. But since we rescued it, and offered it in the catalogue, people have saved their own seed all over the country and even Europe. Do keep your own seed using the instructions supplied!

Rare! small packet of approx 150 seed £

Stock:

When? For sowing in spring, transplant out when bigger, and harvest in autumn / overwinter.

Small screen: Turn your device sideways to view sowing calendar.



= normal sowing & harvest time = also possible depending on conditions

plant picture Released by us as Open Source Seed for the benefit of all. You have the freedom to use these public domain seeds in any way you choose. In return, you pledge not to restrict others' use of these seeds or their derivatives by registration, licencing, patents or other means, and to include this pledge with any transfer of these seeds or their derivatives. If you pass the seed on, please tell people about its open-source status.



plant picture

Red Ursa Kale

This is a great kale particularly useful for winter and spring harvest. The large upright plants have beautiful deep red-purple leaves with a unique shape - gently frilled at the edges.

It was bred by kale expert Frank Morton specifically for home gardeners - with emphasis on extra cold resistance and flavour. The leaves are tender and sweet even when big, and the flowering shoots when it finally bolts are also very nice both cooked or in salads.

Sweet & Hardy. Very rare. If you like it, keep your own seed using the instructions supplied!

approx 200 seed, organic £

Stock:

When? For sowing in spring, transplant out when bigger, and harvest in autumn / overwinter.

Small screen: Turn your device sideways to view sowing calendar.



= normal sowing & harvest time = also possible depending on conditions



plant pictureTrue Siberian Kale

A fast growing Kale, with large frilly blue-green leaves.

This great kale (originally from Seeds of Change) was given to us by Andrew and Sarah, the ‘Seed Ambassadors’ who toured many small seed collections in 2006, taking the best varieties from one country to another.

We really like it because not only is it particularly tasty and tender, it is also very cold-hardy. It can be picked through winter in many areas.

Quick & Hardy, and very tasty.

approx 200 seed, organic £

Stock:

When? For sowing in spring, transplant out when bigger, and harvest in autumn / overwinter.

Small screen: Turn your device sideways to view sowing calendar.



= normal sowing & harvest time = also possible depending on conditions



plant pictureEast Friesian Palm Kale

This is a particularly hardy curly kale that grows very tall with crinkled leaves. It can be harvested from late summer all the way through the winter and into the following spring.

An ancient and valuable variety from Ostfriesland in North Germany, it is has been grown for thousands of years and is still kept going by a few small-scale farmers.

Please note this is incredibly rare, in order to make it available to you we have made up slightly smaller packets than we would prefer, but to be honest 200 or so kale plants should be plenty for anyone.

Rare! approx 200 seed, organic £

Stock:

When? For sowing in spring, transplant out when bigger, and harvest in autumn / overwinter.


Small screen: Turn your device sideways to view sowing calendar.



= normal sowing & harvest time = also possible depending on conditions

plant picture

plant picturePaul & Becky's Asturian Tree Cabbage

Although this is really a cabbage, it grows very much like a kale, so we've also included it here. It produces a 2 foot stalk with  a loose head on top. You simply take the huge leaves a few at a time to eat all year round.

You can even keep it going for two years or more. Just cut it back when it tries to flower - it makes new growth, ideal for fresh cabbage in spring during the ‘hungry gap’.

Cooks like a cabbage, rather than a kale, and also a key ingredient in the classic Spanish dish 'Caldo Gallego' - which is a delicious leaf, bean, and meat stew.

Tastes like cabbage, harvested like a kale . Short lived perennial provided the flowers are removed as they form.

Approx 100 seed £

Stock:


Small screen: Turn your device sideways to view sowing calendar.



= normal sowing & harvest time = also possible depending on conditions




Saving Brassica Seed:

plant pictureplant pictureplant pictureplant picture

You do need to make sure they aren't crossed with anything,
as many of the brassicas (kale, cabbages, cauliflowers etc) will cross with each other very readily.

Flower stalks from a good-sized population - 20 plants absolute minimum - are hung up to dry,
then broken open over a bowl (or old baby bath in this case).

The bits of pod are screened out with a sieve or a soil riddle
- but you can instead winnow them off in a breeze pretty easily if you prefer.

Seed-saving instructions are included with your seeds, so you can do this yourself.
And of course, seed-saving is only possible because these are all real, non-hybrid varieties.