Beautiful Brassica

Flowers of Dynosaur Kale 

I've never met a Brassica I didn't like and that includes kale, chard, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Chinese cabbage, broccolini, kohlrabi, turnip, rutabaga, etc.

If you look up Brassica food plots you may be surprised to know that people plant plots of it to attract deer they can shoot. Being mostly vegetarians, we are appalled.

In fact, I think that Brassica is pretty enough to put into flower beds among perennial shrubs and other wonderful additions to the garden.

One of our favorites, Dino Kale has been grown in Italy since the 1700s and was a favorite in Thomas Jefferson's garden. Since it is a heirloom plant, you never have to worry about GMOs, hybridization and seeds not coming true when you harvest your own seeds.

Our winter was so mild that several kale plants remained productive. With this warm spell, I expect them to do some rapid spring growth and then I'll harvest the seeds and replant our tiny veg garden with summertime stuff like peppers.

It's not too late to put in some seeds. 60-days to harvest means you better get on it though before the heat arrives.

Now that's you've seen one plant from top to bottom, pick up a pack of seeds, plant them in pots and put them all over the garden wherever the bunnies won't get them.

We had to put chicken wire around our veg bed because the baby bunnies assumed that the seedlings were for their healthy diet.

Eat the small leaves in salads or rollups. We put them in a quiche last week. Tonight I'm making a kale-artichoke heart baked dip with yogurt and Asiago cheese.

No matter how much of it we harvest, blanch and freeze we run out long before we lost interest in eating more!