Kale ’s root , the originalBrassica oleracea , a wild mustard that still exists , was once the one and onlyBrassica oleracea . It grew in countries around the Mediterranean and on the Gallic and British coasts . Thanks to difference in human preferences , though , we now have kale , dough , cauliflower , Brassica oleracea italica , Brussels sprouts , collards , and kohlrabi with newB. oleraceacultivars still emerging as novel predilection develop .
Who’s Been Eating Our Kale
The wild Indian mustard that has become the ascendant of all of ourB. oleraceavariations has large , flat , elongated foliage that grow in a cluster at the base of a central stalk , much the way kale grow today . Compared with our kale and collard , though , wild leaf mustard has a limited figure of leaves .
As betimes as the quaternary C B.C. , the Greeks had transformed uncivilized table mustard into straight - leaved and curly - leave , loose - leafed kale , which they grew as food and for medicinal uses . To maximize their harvests , both the Greeks and Romans selectively bring through and sow seeds from the plants that produced the most leaves , so the plant life more closely resemble our kale and collard .
The Romans called these ancestors of forward-looking kale “ Sabellian kale ” , and from the sentence of the ancient Greeks and Romans through the Middle Ages , kale was one of the most common vegetable farm in Europe .
Possibly because the originalBrassica oleraceagained significant genetic diverseness from growing over such a wide - ranging geographic area , agriculturalist have been able to develop the various traits that created the range of cultivars that we have .
For example , the colonists brought kale to North America in the 1500s , and then after 1600 , farmers developed cabbage , broccoli , cauliflower , kohlrabi , and Brussels sprouts . The Japanese created broccolini , a hybrid of broccoli and kai - lan , also known as Taiwanese Brassica oleracea italica , in 1993 , and they also developed several varieties of decorative kale .
In plus to the plain- and curly - foliage assortment of kale , we now have :
We also have kale varieties with names that reflect kale ’s history , such as :
Where Does Kale Grow?
understandably , although culinary and cosmetic lolly are now cold weather condition crops , lolly has grow in many different climates , including lovesome , Mediterranean ones . Even though walk stick kale hail from an island in the English Channel , both walking joystick borecole and Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree pelf retain a orientation for warmer mood and farm well in those areas . In fact , tree Brassica oleracea acephala is acquire along the California coast and in Hawaii .
Where Will Kale Grow in Your Garden?
Disregarding the disagreement among appendage of the kale family over whether warm or cool climates are practiced , all gelt otherwise have similar preferences . Choose a fix where your lucre will receive full to partial sun , and obviate areas that become turbid or where standing water collect . The soil should have a pH balance wheel between 5.5 and 6.8 .
Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree cole and walking stick kale call for lots of space , since they should be planted 20 to 40 inch apart if you desire to farm them full size to glean larger leaf . These two kale varieties will also call for the keep of a paries or a tree stake .
