Kitchen Garden Forum

I planted some bare rooted Kale Plants a while back, the garden centre did not name the variety.

The best ones are about the size of small lollo rosso lettuce, can I pick some leaves and wait for further 'cut and come again growth? Or should I wait for them to get a bit bigger??

Compo

Hi Compo

I'm picking mine and it's not that big. I just take a couple of leaves of each plant and leave the rest to grow.

I would pick them now but the new leaves probably won't grow until the weather warms up again in spring.

Hello Compo
Can't agree with Monika on this one. I don't live that far from you and I've always found that round here Kale will grow on well through the winter - any mild spell that we have it seems to perk up and make some more growth.
I grow the dwarf variety, plant them closer together than recommended and then harvest alternate (whole) plants to allow the others to grow on for later when we pick off leaves.

This year I'm also trying Collards (Collard Greens). A friend in the US sent seeds to us to try out. They are also non-hearting cabbage, grown and harvested like Kale but with smooth leaves. So far they have done well and should be ready for a first picking in a few weeks. Never seen them for sale over here - though I'm sure there's someone on the forum ready to correct me on that!!!

John