Kale

56 days. Brassica oleracea. Open Pollinated. Dwarf Blue Curled Scotch Kale. This early variety produces flavorful green leaves. Great in salads, sandwiches, and soups. Also great steamed, boiled, baked, or stir-fried. Great freezing variety too! This variety withstands colder weather better than other varieties. It is one of the best frost resistant kales on the market. Cold Resistant. An excellent choice for home gardens. United States Department of Agriculture, NSL 80302. An 1863 heirloom variety from the USA.

60 days. Brassica napus. Open Pollinated. Dwarf Essex Rape. This early-maturing plant produces excellent yields of kale. It is sweet, tender, and crunchy. Great for salads and sandwiches. It is cooked in the same way as broccoli, boiled, steamed, or stir-fried. Dwarf Essex Rape is an excellent forage crop for livestock and wildlife, including deer. Excellent choice for home gardens, market growers, open field production, and commercial production. Heat Tolerant. Drought Tolerant. Cold Tolerant. United States Department of Agriculture, NSL 80306. A variety from the USA.

62 days. Brassica oleracea. Open Pollinated. Lacinato Kale. This early maturing plant produces high yields of flavorful, blue green kale leaves. It is sweet and tender. Used fresh in salads, on sandwiches, in soups, or cooked. It is best eaten when the leaves are small and tender. The flavor is enhanced by frost. Also known as Dinosaur Kale, Tuscan Kale, Black Cabbage Kale, Black Kale, Black Palm Kale, Cavolo Palmizio Kale, Nero di Toscana Kale, and Tuscan Black Palm Cabbage. Suitable for hydroponic gardening. Cold Tolerant. An excellent choice for home gardens, market growers, and open field production. Grown by Jefferson at Monticello, Virginia, USA. A 1700s heirloom from Tuscany, Italy.

55 days. Brassica oleracea. Open Pollinated. Premier Kale. This early variety produces heavy crops of deep green kale leaves. It is a popular heirloom kale variety known for its high yields, fast growth, and excellent flavor. Very flavorful. Used fresh in salads and on sandwiches, or cooked. This variety stands 3 to 4 weeks longer than other varieties. Provides higher yields when seeded in the fall for spring harvest. Most gardeners will be able to overwinter plants started in the fall. Spring-started plants will get very large. Extremely high in antioxidants and beta carotene. Also known as Early Hanover Kale. It is a slow-bolting variety that is best suited to cooler climates. The plants are slower to bolt than many other kales, making them ideal for both spring and fall planting. A great variety of wildlife forage, preferred forage for deer. An excellent choice for home gardens and market growers. United States Department of Agriculture, PI 706742. An heirloom variety from the USA.

50 days. Brassica napus. Open Pollinated. Red Russian Kale. This early variety produces excellent yields of flavorful red and blue-green kale leaves with pretty purple-red veins and stems. Very flavorful and tender. Perfect for steaming, boiling, baking, soups, or stir-frying. Also, a good freezing variety. Highly nutritional with powerful antioxidants. Very winter hardy, withstands colder weather, tolerates cold temperatures to -10 F. Cold Tolerant. It will continuously produce greens throughout the season: spring, summer, fall, and winter. Also known as Buda Kale and Ragged Jack Kale. Suitable for hydroponic gardening. An excellent choice for home gardens, market growers, and open field production. United States Department of Agriculture, AMES 26645. A pre-1885 heirloom from Russia.

55 days. Brassica oleracea. Open Pollinated. Vates Blue Curled Kale. This early maturing plant produces heavy yields of blue-green kale leaves. It is used fresh in salads, on sandwiches, cooked, boiled, steamed, and stir-fried. It can be used as a garnish, cooked as a side dish, or used as a seasoning for stews. It freezes well. Cold Tolerant. Excellent choice for home gardens. United States Department of Agriculture, NSL 80301. A variety from the USA.