Spring is just around the corner, and some kale love :)
It has really felt like Spring is almost here these last couple of weeks. The evenings are getting so much lighter and the buds of the trees are swelling.
Your propagation space is probably filling up (overflowing?!) with little plantlets getting ready for planting out soon.
Don't worry however if you are feeling like you are behind on your sowing, there is still plenty of time for sowing most things and they will soon catch up with earlier sowings.
For a full list of seeds to sow in March click the button below.
| SEEDS TO SOW IN MARCH |
Love your kale!
Here at Vital Seeds we are serious kale enthusiasts. We can happily eat it with every meal, including breakfast, more likely with eggs than muesli (although I have tried with a miso-based porridge too).
It's very difficult to say our favourite variety as they all shine in different situations.
For flavour we think Nero di Toscanna simply cannot be beaten. It is a traditional Italian variety which has stood the test of time. Its only downside is that it is the first to flower in late winter so it has a shorter harvest period than some other varieties.
For looks you can't get much more attractive than Dazzling Blue. As the name suggests it's a total show stopper!
For lateness our new favourite is Pentland Brigg which is a very old cross between Dwarf Green and Thousand Head. It is a great hungry gap filler producing large amounts of delicious and nutritious flowering shoots during the hungry gap (known as 'kale raab'), and of course the leaves can eaten like normal kale.
Coming soon...
This season we will be producing seed of a really interesting kale called Bear Necessities bred by Adaptive Seeds in the USA. It is an ultra-frilly Red Russian style kale resulting from a rare cross between a kale and a mizuna variety.
We also have our own mizuna-kale cross breeding project happing behind the scenes which resulted from a cross between Dazzling Blue kale and Beni Houshi mizuna. We have just planted out the second generation of these plants in our tunnel and are hoping they will produce seeds this season.
Another great thing about kale is that it is super-easy to grow. We have made a handy guide to growing kale which you can view on our website here.
Happy sowing and growing
Fred, Ronja, and the rest of the vital team
P.S. If you've got a polytunnel or greenhouse remember to open the doors on hot days at this time of year to make sure you don't fry your little seedlings
Vital Seeds Ltd
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