Kale 'Red Russian'

Brassica napus

A vigorous Siberian kale with purple stems and dark green, lobed leaves. The leaves are significantly softer than curly kale. Very good to eat fresh, but also cooked like spinach. Grows quickly and is easy to grow for harvesting small and large leaves. Harvest as baby-leaf for salads or full grown for cooking.

Extremely winter hardy, Red Russian is a "cut and come again" crop and leaves can be harvested as needed throughout the winter. The tasty leaves can be added to soups, stir-fries, streamed, or simply finely chopped and added to salads for a nutrition and fibre boost.

Besides its versatility and simple cultivation, kale is an incredibly healthy and highly basic vegetable. It provides a lot of calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, vitamin A, B, K and vitamin C plus a lot of antioxidatively active plant materials. Its high-quality protein and the contained omega-3 fatty acids also ensure that it is always recommended as an alternative to animal fat and protein.

Protect early with netting against butterflies, moths and flies.

Pre-cultivation: April - mid June. 4-6v before planting out. Sow on moistened seed soil. Cover thinly with soil. Set warm (+22°C). Keep moist. After emergence, bright and cooler. When the plants are big enough to handle put 1 per pot in fertilized soil. Harden off the plants before planting out.

Direct sowing, Spring: April - mid June. Can be sown directly when soil temp. is at least +5°C, but pre-cultivation is recommended.

Direct sowing, Late Summer/Fall: Sow densely directly outdoors or in greenhouses in late summer for a harvest of small leaves. Harvest by cutting off the leaves. Protect with non-woven fabric for an extra long harvest period. Can also be sown in trays for later planting out.

Sow depth, cm: 1

Harvest: Aug - Dec

Spacing: 30 cm / 1 plant per GreenStalk pocket (more for harvest as baby leaves)

Annual

Number of seeds: 250