A flat-leaved, oak-shaped kale with blue-green leaves and red-purple stems that becomes noticeably sweeter after frost.
Brassica napus · also called Russian kale, Ragged Jack
Windows are counted from the average date of your last spring frost.
Red Russian is among the most cold-tolerant kales and one of the most tender-textured, making it suitable for raw salads as well as cooking. Its long harvest window — from midsummer through hard winter in mild climates — gives exceptional value per square foot.
A little history. Unlike curly kales (Brassica oleracea), Red Russian belongs to Brassica napus, the same species as rutabaga. Cold temperatures cause the plant to convert stored starches to sugars, which lowers the freezing point of cell fluids and perceptibly sweetens the leaves.
Sow seeds ½ inch (13 mm) deep, and aim for 18 inches (45 cm) between plants once thinned. Sow 0.25–0.5 in deep and keep the seedbed evenly moist; do not let the surface crust or dry out before sprouts emerge. Seedlings emerge in 4–10 days.
Either works well; needs at least 12 inches of soil depth for a strong root system. In containers: 5-gallon pot minimum; 7–10 gallon preferred for full-sized plants.
Water deeply twice a week in warm weather; once a week is often sufficient once temperatures drop below 60 °F (16 °C). Water when the top inch of soil feels dry to the touch. Aim for about 1 inch per week including rain.
Side-dress (scatter fertilizer along the row and water in) once at planting and again 4 weeks later. What to use: balanced organic granular (e.g. 5–5-5) or compost worked into the top 2 inches.
Remove any yellowing lower leaves promptly to improve airflow. If the plant bolts, pinch out the central flower stem immediately to extend leaf production by several weeks.
It's ready when harvest outer leaves once they reach 4–8 inches long and are deep blue-green with firm texture; do not wait for leaves to yellow or toughen. Snap or cut the lowest, oldest outer leaves first, leaving the central growing point and at least 4–6 inner leaves intact. Work upward from the base at each picking.
Unwashed leaves in a sealed plastic bag in the refrigerator crisper drawer; best within 5–7 days. Blanch and freeze for storage up to 10–12 months.
Sow a new batch every 3–4 weeks from early spring through midsummer to maintain a continuous supply of young, tender leaves through fall.
In climates with mild winters (lows above 10 °F (-12 °C)), plants often survive to early spring; mulch the root zone with 3–4 inches of straw after the first hard frost to extend survival.
Garlic
The strong sulfur smell of garlic foliage can help hide kale from aphids and cabbage moths that locate their host by scent. Effect is real but modest, so plant a border of garlic along the row rather than relying on it alone.
Onion
Onion tops give off a pungent smell that often reduces the number of egg-laying cabbage moths and aphids finding young kale. Onions also stay shallow-rooted and short, so they take little light or water from the kale.
Nasturtium
Nasturtium often pulls cabbage aphids and cabbage white butterflies onto itself first. Treat it as a sacrificial plant: check it weekly and pull or wash off the colonies, or the trap simply becomes a nursery beside your kale.
Dill
Dill's flat flower clusters feed hoverflies, lacewings, and the tiny parasitic wasps that attack cabbage worms and aphids. Let a few plants flower near the kale row rather than cutting every stem for the kitchen.
Celery
Gardeners have long paired celery with cabbage-family crops, and both do want the same steady moisture and rich soil. No mechanism has been demonstrated, so treat it as a convenient bedfellow rather than pest protection.
Strawberry
Old charts keep strawberries and cabbage-family crops apart, though no mechanism has been shown. The practical objection is simpler: strawberries hold a bed for years, while kale wants a bed you can rotate out of brassicas every four seasons.
Tomato
Gardeners have long separated these two, and the plausible part of the tradition is competition: both are heavy feeders, and a caged tomato casts deep shade over a kale plant that wants full sun for dense leaf growth.
Give the cabbage family 4 years away from this spot before any of its relatives return.
The tomato family, the pea and bean family or the carrot family thrive in this ground next season.
Kale leaves the bed hungry and low on nitrogen, and it leaves behind cabbage-family root and leaf diseases. Keep all cabbage-family crops out of this ground for 4 years. Follow with peas or beans, then tomatoes or peppers, or with carrots and parsley.
Set your garden's location and every window above becomes a real date — then Verdie reminds you when it's time to sow, transplant, water, and pick.
