Kitchen Garden Forum

"Best practices" doesn't seem quite the right slot to put this question, but here it goes: I was clearing away the last kale plants yesterday (Ragged Jack, Dwarf Green Curly, Nero di Toscana) because they were starting to put out flower buds. When I had put them all on the compost hap, it occurred to me that the buds looked very similar to purple/green sprouting broccoli. Should I have tried cooking them, do you think? They can't be poisonous, can they? But perhaps very bitter?

We've enjoyed eating flower buds from both black and red kale.

Monika

Don't throw away the best part of the kale

All brassica flower buds (and stems) are edible and delicious. I am not the only person who grows kale mainly for the flowering stalks in May. Even the roughest, bitterest kale seems to have sweeter flower stems.

Thanks for that, Geoff and Alan! It's too late for this year but well worth rermembering for next year.

How about oilseed rape? We've got fields and fields of it all around us this year, just starting to flower
It smells like stale saliva - bring back the sunflowers!

Hi Monika,
The variety of Kale renown for the very scrumptious side shoots it produces is 'Pentland Brig' which also gives a very good crop of Kale over what used to be called 'the hungry gap.' These sideshoots should be picked just like Broccoli spears, when in bud. A very well worth additional crop.
I suppose there is no chance of retrieving any of them from the compost heap! It seems such a shame to lose them from this years crop.
JB.

Hello Johnboy,
No, I had a look the following day but they were all horribly limp, particularly as I bashed the stems hard so that they would compost more easily!
I'll know better next year and, as I have not yet sown this year's kale, I will try to get hold of Pentland Brig.
Many thanks again, Monika