[annied]

Hi
I'm thinking of growing kale this year in the area where the onions will hopefully have been!
There are so many varieties and wondered if anyone had any recommendations. How dwarf is a dwarf variety. Our raised bed is 5.5 ft square. Finally does the soil need to be a certain depth? I'm presuming like sprouts it might suffer from wind rock???
All answers gratefully received
Thanks

[Fisherman]

I like the Italian Kale Cavolo De Nero and its pretty easy to grow. It needs to be protected from cabbage white butterfly's or it will be covered in caterpillars in no time. I grew purple Kale from Mr Fothergills next to Cavolo De Nero last year and it was completely unaffected by cabbage whites! Its a bit on the tall side though for a small raised bed.

[Trillium]

I grow Tuscan kale, aka dinosaur/black kale, aka Tuscan, which sort of looks like cabbage that doesn't head up. It's straight stems and very nice, easy to ,pick and grows to about 2 ft high. Never had any problems with wind rocking since it's not as fussy as brussel sprouts. I just stick them in the ground and water from time to time if it's dry. Gives a very good crop. But you will need to net it as cabbage whites adore it like all other brassicas. Soil depth should be at least 8".

[AnneB]

I would go with the Tuscan kale aka Cavolo Nero.  I netted mine in the early stages, but later on it was ignored by both pigeons, butterflies and white fly, but perhaps I was just lucky.  Also seemed to be slug proof.  Productive and very tasty.

[mumofstig]

Cavolo Nero is a bit strong tasting for me, I grew Red Russian Kale last winter, it's a lot milder in flavour and when young it can even go in a salad
Joy Larkcom recommends it in her book, Grow Your Own Vegetables - so I tried it
http://www.sowvegetables.co.uk/kale_russian_red.htm

[galen]

As above I grow Cavolo De Nero / Tuscan kale whatever it is called and also Reflex, which is tallish but very nice and tender and enjoyed by my 6 year old daughter which is always a bonus. With both never had any troubles with the dreaded cabbage white 

Trying a dwarf variety this year, suprisingly enough called "Dwarlf Green Curled" but not in a position to comment on it yet. The intention is I start it off next month and it will go into the large tubs previously occupied by tomatoes grown in the garden at end of September. The packet doesn't indicate how tall it grows I'm afraid.

[Ice]

Cavolo Nero is my choice too.  I grew a dwarf kale a few years ago and found the texture to be mush when cooked.  I netted the Cavolo Nero against cabbage whites but whitefly loved them.

[viettaclark]

I agree with the Black Tuscan kale (Cavalo Nero) Seeds of Italy (masses of seed)
I did 2 sowings last year and we're still eating the second sowing!
Wonderful stuff! Not tough or stringy, good flavour, versatile, easy to grow, very hardy and fairly slug free.
As others have said...early sowings need to be netted against butterfly but my later sowing was in the open.
I cannot praise it enough and as you can't usually buy it (or if you can it's pricey) it's a good use of space over the Winter.
Looks nice too!

[annied]

Thanks for all your replies.
 Clearly there is a majority vote here. I'm wondering if the young leaves can be used in salad as with the red russian kale???
How many plants to my 5 x 5ft space??

[Christine]

Not very many at all as all kales are spreading type plants. They need room.

[AnneB]

Tuscan Kale is quite upright and not too spreading, compared with broad leaved kales, especially if you use it on a "cut and come again" basis. 

My raised bed is 4 foot across, and I got 3 plants in a 4 foot row last year.   You would probably get about 3 rows in I would guess, and possibly 4 plants per row in a 5ft bed, giving a total of around 12 plants, which would be plenty.

I grew 4 plants last year and produced a total of 2.5kg.

[sunshineband]

I grew dwarf  green curly kale last year, and ten plants saw us through from November to mid April. It tasted superb and we preferred it to black tuscan kale, which we had the previous year.

Red curly one might have been Ok but I fell on them and only had one plant which lingered before passing on  :blink:

[MJS]

I grew green curly Kale too last year and it was really tasty. I have just sown some kale fizz, and I am interested to see what that is like.

[shokkyy]

I'm doing dwarf green and cavolo nero this year. I'm new to kale, so can anyone advise me how many plants I need to get a steady supply for two people?

[Growster...]

'Scarlet', by T and M!

Great plant, swift and easy to grow, and although clobbered by whitefly, it is a great additive to soups come autumn. Magical steamed with Balsamic Vinegar too!

We have the same seed from last year, all the sown the plants are up to about three inches now, and they'll go out soon.

We usually sneer at Kale, but it is really a Godsend when all else is finishing/being slugged etc during the winter months!