Growing Kale, also Borecole

Brassica oleracea sp. : Brassicaceae / the mustard or cabbage family

Jan F M A M J J A S O N Dec
  S                    
    T T T              
    P P P              

(Best months for growing Kale in USA - Zone 5a regions)

  • S = Plant undercover in seed trays
  • T = Plant out (transplant) seedlings
  • P = Sow seed
  • Easy to grow. Grow in seed trays, and plant out in 4-6 weeks. Sow seed at a depth approximately three times the diameter of the seed. Best planted at soil temperatures between 46°F and 86°F. (Show °C/cm)
  • Space plants: 20 - 39 inches apart
  • Harvest in 7-10 weeks.
  • Compatible with (can grow beside): Dwarf (bush) beans, beets, celery, cucumber, onions, marigold, nasturtium, rhubarb, aromatic herbs (sage, dill, camomile)
  • Avoid growing close to: Climbing (pole) beans, tomato, peppers (chilli, capsicum), eggplant (aubergine), strawberry, mustard

Your comments and tips

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12 Nov 15, Cameron Reed (Australia - temperate climate)
I love kale chips but not normal kale. Also kale won't grow in my garden!
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17 Sep 16, Daria (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
Why do you think that is?
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30 Oct 15, Patrick Ishiguchi (Australia - tropical climate)
How do you keep kale from stop dying?? Do you just add more fertilizer onto the garden.
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06 Oct 15, diane thomson (Australia - tropical climate)
I started buying kale from supermarket curly type so that i could juice it. Not a drop of juice dry and bitter. I am raw vegan also tried to eat it but it was vile. Tried and persevered but no success. I then decided to grow it. Bought toscano seedlings and planted them. About 9 inches big, so tried a leaf and it is dry and bitter. What is the problem here? Can you advise. I live in Townsville Qld. Thanks Diane Thomson
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25 Mar 16, Mike (Australia - temperate climate)
the smaller leaves are much better, up to 2 inches long. The larger ones will be bitter on their own.
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17 Nov 15, Peter (Australia - temperate climate)
Freeze it. Crush the frozen leaves and make a salad of walnuts, cranberries, chopped cheese and kale. Dress with olive oil and lemon juice.
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27 Oct 15, Vicki (Australia - temperate climate)
Kale can be a little hard to take! I blend it with a full apple and peeled orange, and drink it down! Not juice, but blend! Yummo!
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24 Oct 15, Macca (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
Cook it
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23 Oct 15, eric (Australia - tropical climate)
that is the life of Kale I find it pleasant when it is steamed with other vegies. Kale is kale and I have not had a sweet one yet, I have mixed Kale with tomatoes (tommy toes black russians and yellow cherry tomatoes) leb cues and coconut water and salt and honey i thought that morning after the 25 klm ride breakfast was pretty good, but remember not to much Kale very strong flavor.
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16 Sep 15, karen Tardieu (South Africa - Semi-arid climate)
Where can I get kale seeds from ? Thanks, Karen
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Showing 51 - 60 of 179 comments
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Harvest date is the time from seedling (from the time 2 leaves appear like Mickey mouse ears - or a blade of grass for Monocotyledons) to harvest. The reason it is not from sowing is the seed company has no idea when your seed will germinate from the time you planted it. That is to say, a seed can sit in the soil, waiting for its germination conditions to be met (temperature, light,water etc). Once the conditions are met, it germinates, and the growing conditions tend to be correct... so your seed/plant will grow as it's parent plant did. Example, I can sow seeds in fall, for spring growth. It should be noted that days to harvest is under ideal conditions...so let's say the temps fall below the growing temp range for that plant....the plant goes dormant, and starts growing again once temps are in the growing range. A drop in temps for 5 days will push your days to harvest out by 5 days (maybe more...because the plant may not kick into growing action right away - I am assuming the temp has not fallen so low it kills the plant). We had a forest fire nearby, and there were months of hazy days...clearly the plants could not grow...and this pushed the days to harvest out. I have read some agricultural papers, and rather than days to harvest they provide the number of hours of sunlight to harvest, they also define what intensity of sunlight is required to be counted as an hour of growing light. These numbers are converted to days (based on average hours of daylight etc.) In hopes of making things easier for the average gardener. Hope this info helps.

- Faith Celeste Archer

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