Winter ready perennial kales

This week I’ve spent a lot of time preparing various less hardy plants for winter, laying down blackberry canes and covering with leaves and jute sacking to hold the leaves in place and similarly with sea kale which is marginally hardy here.
Even though it was under -5C it was dry and quite pleasant to work outside raking leaves from the wild part of the garden.
I was a bit late this year, the cold spell with 10 days below 0C every day means that there’s already 10cm or so frozen solid in parts of the garden, so crossing fingers that I wasn’t too late.
Here’s part of my collection of perennial kales which are marginal here even with the roots protected. In my world, kales are of the least hardy vegetables :)

The canes of my 30 year old blackberry are almost as long as the south facing wall of my house:

…and my 35 year old seakale bed, covered as maybe 1 in 10 winters they wouldn’t survive!

 

 

2 thoughts on “Winter ready perennial kales”

  1. Hi,
    I have been looking online to try to find where I can buy perenial kale plants in Noway but with no luck so far. I live in Kristiansand (having moved from Birmingham ironically). Do you know where I can order some from?
    All the best,
    Linda

    1. Hi Linda!
      Your best bet is membership in our Norwegian Seed Saver organisation (KVANN). Go to kvann.no and click on “Bli medlem”. We have a yearbook (Årbok) with over 600 different edible plants on offer and guilds for perennial vegetables and Brassica. I only send to members I’m afraid! If you join, send me a PM internally and I’ll send you “Walsall Allotments” and whatever other perennial kales I still have available!
      Stephen

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