Cool-Season Vegetables: How To Grow Kale

Kale has come into its own. It is a superfood, which means it’s emerging in all sort of foods, from main courses to energy shakes. This member of the cabbage family is also surprisingly simple to grow. Leaf colors range from chartreuse to crimson to blue-green and many other shades of green; its leaves are curly or ruffled. Like spinach, cabbage also comes within an ornamental variety that’s also edible.

Firstly, the colder it gets, the happier kale is. It will not good under a blanket of snow so long as its roots do not get too wet and even tastes better after the first frost.

More: How to grow cool-season vegetables

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When to plant: Sow seeds in late summer and early autumn for winter and autumn harvest. To get a summer harvest, plant in spring two weeks into a month before the final frost date.

Days to maturity: 55 to 75

moderate requirement: A sunny place is greatest, though afternoon shade is good if the climate is extremely hot.

Water necessity: Water often and consistently until just prior to the first frost.

Favorites: Dwarf Blue Curled, Dwarf Siberian, Lacinato, Redbor, Red Ursa, Russian Red, Siberian, Vates, White Russian, Winterbor

Planting and maintenance: Sow seeds around a quarter inch deep and an inch apart, then lean to about 8 inches into 1 1/2 feet apart, depending on plant size (eat the thinnings as an early garden cure). Kale does best in soil that is good . Fertilize the soil with a food that is complete during planting and about a month later. The plants can reach 3 feet tall, so you may need to stake them. Kale can require some summer warmth but is more likely to bloom than to produce leaves afterward. Diseases and pests are insignificant.

Harvest: Start cutting leaves from the outside or pull up the entire plant.

More: 12 Edibles to Plant in Late Summer

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