January 2, 2013
Siberian Kale
We have spoken of the coleworts, which became the American collard, and the cabbage colewort, which replaced the ancient colewort in Europe. The third affiliate of this group of winter greens are the kales and they are the most cold hardy of them all. Kale is simply an alternative pronunciation of cole, originating in the northern part of the British Isles. However, by the 18th century kale was generally understood to refer to varieties of coles imported from the Netherlands. They were also known as borecoles, from the Dutch boerenkool or “peasant’s cabbage.” Borecoles differed from the common colewort in having curled and frilled leaves. Initially they were treated as a garnish as was explained in The Compleat Seedsman’s Monthly Calendar (1738): “Curl’d Coleworts, or Curl’d Worts, is a Sort of cole with jagged cut Leaves, strip’d with many Colours; it serves to garnish Dishes, but is never boil’d or eaten, that ever I heard of.”
Tuscan Kale
By the middle of the 18th century there were several varieties and colors of borecole, but the most popular form was called Scotch kale (Brassica oleracea), a name it retains to this day. While this is still the most familiar kale to modern gardeners and shoppers it is rather coarse and bitter and, in agreement with the Monthly Calendar, I believe is best used as an ornament rather than an esculent. The Russo-Siberian kales (Brassica napus) such as Red Russian and Siberian kale are much milder and of a tenderer texture than is the Scotch kale.
A dwarf form of Siberian kale that originated in Tidewater, Virginia is called Hanover Salad and is prized by local gardeners. Another very flavorful heirloom kale that originated in Italy is known as Tuscan Kale (also known as Lacinato, Black Palm or Dinosaur kale). While it is not as cold hardy as Siberian kale it is so mild it may be used raw in a salad and is particularly suited for kale soups.
A complete explanation of winter greens may be found in Vegetable Gardening the Colonial Williamsburg Way, 18th Century Methods for Today’s Organic Gardeners (Rodale Press).
iCitizenForum
dawn says:
Kale is a favorite at our house, prepared many ways. Indeed, it was our choice for ‘greens’ for our traditional New Years meal. Simple and delicious. I have enjoyed the section on winter greens in the new book tremendously. Many meals here in the fall and winter and early spring start with a trip to the garden to see which greens we’ll start with.
Colonial Williamsburg says:
Dawn, Thank you for your kind remarks and I share your love of winter greens. One of the great satisfactions of keeping a garden is the seasonality of the produce it provides. I much prefer to have my meals planned by what is ready in the garden rather than what might be available at the market.
Keep in touch,
Wesley
Larry D says:
Wesley,
My wife and I enjoyed our conversation with you today about winter gardening here in Tidewater. We always learn something interesting on our many visits to CW and today was an exceptional learning opportunity. My winter garden will be expanded next year based on the advice you provided today. We especially enjoyed the sample of Tuscan Kale you offered and I am certain it will be in my fall garden next year. Thanks for the advice on starting spinach seed. Hope to visit again soon.
Best Regards,
Larry and Claudia
Colonial Williamsburg says:
Dear Friends, both Don and I are particularly appreciative of local visitors to the garden this time of year as the old town is somewhat empty. We plan to load the hotbed next week which is the first step towards spring.
-Wesley Greene
Christine Hansley says:
Good morning Wesley,
I wish I could winter garden in the Chicago area. It just gets too cold for both the plants and me. It was 18 degrees this morning. I don’t have room for a grrenhouse of any knid on our property. It’s just too small. I will however make an effort to get out earlier this Spring to start my cool weather seeds that I can sow directly in the ground.
I sent an e-mail about my peanuts in Chicago on Oct. 24th to Mr. Caldwell and have yet to receive an answer. He may have deleted it because he didn’t know me. I can understand that. Please, when you have time ask him again. My squirels enjoyed the raw peanuts. This year I’m going to put chicken wire around and over my containers of veggies.
Thanks for the great infomation you provide about gardening on the blog. You’re in growing zone 7 and I’m in zone 5 so I have to adjust for that when I try go grow new things. Gardening in always and experiment.
Have a Happy and Healthy New Year,
Chris
From the Chicago Area
Colonial Williamsburg says:
Dear Chris,
I moved to Virginia from Maine and spinach would generally over winter for me there so you may give it a try in Illinois. If you do not have a snow cover, a straw mulch should preserve it. Next week I will introduce a couple of small salad greens that are even more cold hardy than spinach and will almost certainly survive a Chicago winter.
Wesley Greene
Christine Hansley says:
Hi Wesley,
Depending on where you were in Maine you went from zone 3, 4 or 5 to a zone 7. That had to be a learning experience. Your choice of veggies to grow expanded. Also the fact that you could grow more veggies earlier/later in the season had to be welcome adjustment.
I’ll keep an eye out for next week’s edition.
Thanks for all the information you give in this blog. I know it’s time consuming, but please know it is greatly appreciated.
Chris
dawn says:
Wesley,
Can you share that advice on starting spinach seeds here? I seem to always either have wonderful success or full tilt disaster with spinach. When I do get it up and growing, it’s a real boon to my menus and meals!
Thanks,
dawn
Colonial Williamsburg says:
Dear Dawn,
Spinach is often difficult to germinate and there can be several reasons for this. The first, and probably most common, reason for having poor success with germinating spinach is the seed itself. Spinach produces a short-lived seed that is very susceptible to damage, usually by heat, in its transportation and display. If you save your own seed it is very important that it is kept refrigerated in air-tight containers. If you are sowing your spinach in the fall, it shows very poor germination in a warm soil so let things cool off before committing it to the ground. A trick that sometimes works for difficult to germinate seeds is placing a board, such as a 1 X 6, over the row after sowing your seeds and watering them in. Leave it in place for one or two weeks which will keep the soil from drying out as well as keeping it cooler and darker which is a plus for spinach. Most of the time, however, the fault lies with the seed rather than the gardener.