Brassica Oleracea, Kale / Borecole - Nero di Toscana
Italian heirloom, loose-leafed cabbage from the early 1800s with beautiful, deep black-green leaves up to 40cm long. The mature plant can be grown as spring cabbage, sown March- April onwards for overwintering.
Great for soups and stews. Beautiful and tasty.
A very easily grown plant, succeeding in full sun in a well-drained fertile preferably alkaline soil. Prefers a heavy soil. Succeeds in any reasonable soil and will tolerate quite poor conditions. Shade tolerant, growing well on a north border. Succeeds in maritime gardens.
Edible uses
Leaves - raw or cooked. A strong cabbage flavour, they are delicious if used when fairly young though they can become tough with age. The leaves are usually available from autumn to late spring, and can be harvested all through the winter in all but the very coldest of seasons.
Young flowering shoots - raw or cooked. Picked before the flowers open, they are fairly tender and can be used as part of a mixed salad. When cooked, they have a delicious flavour similar to sprouting broccoli.
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