Kale KADET

Brassica oleracea convar. Acephala

This plant is rich in vitamins A, C, E and minerals, especially iron, calcium, magnesium, potassium and phosphorus. Another plus is its high fibre content, which supports proper intestinal function. In the kitchen, it can be used like cabbage or spinach.

Kale is a biennial. It forms a stem about 1 m high bearing a rosette of curled leaves. Each leaf is relatively large and weighs approximately 150 - 200 g. The leaves are green or crimson in colour.

How to Grow Kale

• They require a bright or partially shaded location. At the beginning of summer, plants require large amounts of water. The soil should never dry out. Regularly hoe around the plants and remove weeds. Also lime and fertilise regularly. If the plants grow very large and are not stable, stake each one and tie them up.

• Sow seeds directly in the bed from late May to mid-June at a spacing of 50 to 60 x 50 cm.

• Plants thrive in well-drained, medium to heavy clay soils that have been thoroughly fertilised. In autumn, cover the soil with lime to maintain the correct acidic pH.

• Approximately 2 weeks before planting, apply 60 g of universal NPK fertiliser or granulated manure per square metre. Then fertilise and lime regularly.

• The most common cabbage pests are flea beetles, cabbage white butterflies and cabbage moths. Among diseases, clubroot causes the most damage.

  For cabbage moth, it is advisable to use synthetic insecticides or preparations based on 'Bacillus thuringiensis' during the hatching of caterpillars from eggs.

  Against clubroot, it is advisable to lime the land, use nitrogenous lime, destroy affected plants and disinfect the soil.

  Plants can be protected from white butterflies by planting them among tomatoes, for example.

• Harvest leaves from summer until winter. Pick the lower leaves; the top will repeatedly regrow.