Doughty performers

10:50am Thursday 24th January 2008

VAL BOURNE relies on the flavour and nutrition of the hardy kale

When I was gardening on Britain's equivalent of the Russian steppes - on the higher reaches of Northamptonshire - the greenhouse windows were so ice-patterned in the mornings that they could have been the backdrop for a scene from Doctor Zchivago.

At the time I was struggling to feed a young family and the only two vegetables I could rely on in those Siberian winters of the early 1980s were leeks and kale. The Brussels sprouts, purple sprouting and spring cabbage plants would be regularly reduced to dead stumps. But curly-leaved kale and leeks survived, including one night when the temperature plummeted to -26F. Not surprisingly I've grown these two doughty performers ever since.

Kale derived from wild cabbage growing on the Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas so it's extreme hardiness is puzzling. But the Greeks and Romans grew it widely and it was the most commonly grown green vegetable in Europe until the end of the Middle Ages.

Thirty years ago kale was regarded as purely peasant fodder and it was not grown commercially. But how times have changed. Now it's sold - under the trendier name of borecole - in small packets in all the best supermarkets for exorbitant amounts. But it's much better to grow your own and not for just financial reasons. It's more flavourful and nutritious picked fresh, being high in vitamins A and C.

It's easy too. Sow the seeds in trays, or nodules in mid-spring and pot up individually. Alternatively sow thinly in drills outside and thin the plants out. Plant in situ by early to midsummer about 2ft or 60cm apart. Water if needed and keep down the weeds.

By September your plants will be almost full sized and ready to go through the winter. Young plants can be bought in garden centres, from www.organicplants.co.uk or call 01354 740553.

Back then I only grew Dwarf Green Curled' kale with its parsley-green, crinkled leaves. It has one or two advantages over other brassicas. The pigeons shun the almost-prickly leaves and it also escapes the attentions of cabbage aphid, something that's more prevalent now that there's an increase in rape crops. The leaves are not popular with cabbage white caterpillars either. Kale is also less susceptible to clubroot and cabbage root fly than other brassicas - and it grows on poorer soil.

I grow several varieties now including a handsome red-leaved form called Redbor'. This is a taller variety and in very cold winters the leaves deepen to decorative beetroot-red. Some do not like the flavour of this one and it is stronger on the palate. I also grow the highly fashionable Black Tuscany' kale (Nero di Toscana' or Cavolo Nero' ) and this produces strap-like leaves giving it the name Palm Tree Cabbage. The leaves cook to a rich spinach-green and they are delicious to eat, with a softer flavour. Unfortunately, the aphids like it too. But next year I will be growing more.

This year I've added two heritage varieties with lacy leaves. Russian Hungry Gap' is grown in Russia for its hardiness and, even there, it can be picked throughout winter. It's also been grown in Canada since the 19th century. Ragged Jack' has been grown in British gardens since the early 1800s and the ruffled grey-green leaves have purple-red veins. I haven't eaten either yet. Often local varieties were saved by cottage gardeners, who collected seeds every year. They weren't usually available from seed companies and yet they have survived.

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