perennial cabbages

[orflo]

Here we go for a few, there are lots, but I'm trying to pick out the best, nine star perennial broccoli is a good one, but that has already been discussed in an other thread:
1.the first one is one of the best: ehwiger kohl (translation: eternal cabbage), good, tender leaves , good harvest, long lasting ( at least seven years) , easily propagated by shoots , frost tolerant , but North America and Canada have colder temperatures compared to Belgium, it stays green during wintertime
2.chou Daubenton: quite comparable to the first one , but the taste is more a specific cabbage taste and not as tender as the above,
3. bunias orientalis, doesn't stay green in winter , but is a very early spring crop, popping up from the moment the temperatures start rising, the leaves are eaten, they too have a strong cabbage taste (I usually mix up these strong tasting ones with some milder tasting green leaves), I especially like the unopened flower heads, which can be prepared as broccoli, they have a nice taste, though they are small. So harvest takes a while... I don't know anything about the temperature resistance, they take -15 degrees Celsius over here, and I suspect they are hardier than the first two. I have plants for over 8 years now, and each year they seem to grow harder and faster, so they could be a very long surviving perennial crop. Be careful: they reseed very easily...
4. diplotaxis tenuifolia: is in fact a wild ancestor of aragula, being prepared or eaten the way aragula is prepared. It is a perennial with a short life circle, three to four years, taking at least - 15 degrees C. , the taste is very good, and it's a good summer aragula, which is quite useless in summer, because of early flowering (though the flowers are a good addition to salads)
5. sea kale:a very good perennial kale, the young shoots are eaten in spring time, after being bleached. It is an easy plant, if you have a sandy soil (I have a heavy loam soil, despite digging out the soil and putting in the sand, I kept on losing my plants, because of the wetness of the soil). These shoots are very tasty. Seed viability is very short, unlike most of the other brassicas; a better way to propagate them is taking shoots or cuttings from existing plants.
Because of my un-adapted soil, I can't tell how long the plants will last, though I read reports from 8-9 year old plants, still going strong. They do need a bit of protection during wintertime, even over here (they take down to -8 , a wet or dry soil will also make a difference)
6. walking stick cabbage, a huge cabbage which is perennial in a not too cold climate, but these have always been selected on the 'walking stick' caracteristics. the leaves can be used , again I prefer them mixed up with other, more tender leaves. They can become over 2 metres high, temperature resistance : about -8 degrees, I lost mine two winters ago. They don't really last long, three or maybe four years
7. barbarea vulgaris (winter cress), I'm not sure if this is perennial or not, it keeps coming back on the same spot, but I never really checked whether these are seedlings or a true 'perennial'. It is a good cress alternative for winter harvest over here, supporting low temperatures and sometimes disappearing in summer and popping up again a few months later . Easy to grow and good eating qualities

These are the most used perennial kales, there are some more, some are really rare. There are of course some other perennial brassicas, horseradish and wasabi, but they have a whole other use than the ones mentioned above. I do like these two however
Frank

[plantsnobin]

I found this recipe for Sea Kale Gratinee-1 1/2 lb. washed sea kale, 2 tablespoons butter, 2 tablespoons flour, 1 teaspoons French mustard, 1/2 cup milk or creme fraiche, 4 tablespoons strong cheddar cheese, salt and freshly ground pepper. Rinse kale well, tie into bundles and cook until al dente in boiling water. Drain well, arrange in an ovenproof dish. Make the sauce, flavoring with the cheddar cheeese. Pour the sauce over the kale and bake at 400 F for 15 minutes. Serve hot.

[Alan]

Thanks for the info. Orflo. I am going big on brassica crops this summer and exspecially this fall and winter, I've got a lot of stuff coming in right now and will be adding all of this to the list for future investigation. Brassicas, lettuces, and other cole crops seem to be a very underutilized, high demand item here in Southern Indiana and I am more than happy to fill the gap that others have left.

Last week I made $300 on leaf lettuce alone!

[canadamike]

Frank, would these cabbages be good candidates to make cabbage roll or do they have to be finely cut to use their maximum potential?

[orflo]

Michel, I would go for the first one mentioned if you want to make a roll, you could use the diplotaxis as well, but the leaves are a bit small for making rolls.
Alan , I'll send you some other 'non-perennial' cabbages in autumn, some very good ones, a marvelous tender kale: sutherland kale (only available at www.realseeds.co.uk, which is by the way a wonderful little seed company (I grow some seeds for them), and some other cabbages
Karen, thanks for the recipe, sounds great!
Frank

[canadamike]

I would have like second orflo's comment on www.realseeds.co.uk/

I have not buy from them this year, it was too late when I discovered them, but they totally fit my profile of a company I want to buy from: founded by gutsy people that care more about quality and seed heritage than money. They will sure get my business next year. Orflo, if you know them, they could be doing more in a couple of areas, one being corn. Get in touch with them, I am growing seeds of great corn for others, I could gladly supply them with some. My fees....you know them

Michel

[Alan]

I would love particularly, after some selection work, to see Astronomy Domine jump oceans and become adapted to Europe, the short season genetics are there so it should be easy to select for!

By the way Orflo, thanks for being so generous and I look forward to growing out those cabbages!

[orflo]

First of all, I forgot to mention another perennial cabbage, pentland bring. But up to now, I didn't grow out this one, so my comments would be 'google' comments. I will be receiving some cuttings within a few months.
Ben (realseeds) doesn't send seeds to the US (and Canada?) any more, costs were too high, and some things took ages before they arrived. I will ask if he's interested, but I know he wants things for a UK climate, the only sweet corn he has found up to now for UK standards is Ashworth.
Our climate is indeed less intensive, but longer than yours, corn is more adapted to Belgian circumstances than to some UK circumstances, but still...I must be about the only crazy Belgian trying to grow a melon outside (with the necessary ground heating though) for instance...
Frank

[canadamike]

I don't mind that much, seeds can be relayed through French friends across the channel, I heard some belgians can do it too. Has he tried his hands on small or dwarf corrn? I figure it is a case of heat units, he probably gets less because England is England and England is gray skies, but the smaller ones usually popular in the northusually require less.

Alan, if I theorize that dwarf corn should need less warmth units, am I at least thinking in the good direction?

It only seems logic, since there is far less plant material to manufacture.

Why the hell does your friend lives in England anyway? We need guys like him here!!

The situation is usually better when mailing to Canada than USA, there is no fear of Al-Quaeda seeds in my country. But the canadian post is so fast you can usually leave their delivery trucks in the dust by staying immobile

[biorag]

My (little) contribution :

Ewiger kohl :



Nine star perennial :



Daubenton :



Multiplication even it's not the best season to do that :






..."rendez-vous" 3 weeks later.

[ottawagardener]

I recently wrote a blog post as an attempt to sort it out and find Canadian suppliers. I couldn't find any for Chou Daubenton as it is principally (always?) propogated by cuttings though I did find a french one. Is that the same for the first one? However, you can get ahold of walking stick kale, pentland brig, seakale, turkish rocket (bunias) and nine star broccoli.

D. tenuifolia is a new one for me!

Seakale is grown around here and is listed in an old gardening book for the gardening area. She doesn't list any special care requirements so I presume that it can be hardy around here. It is currently under going its first winter test in my garden which has sandy soil.

It would be great to do some more work on these brassicas so that even us shivering short cold season folk could enjoy them more.

[mybighair]

I have developed a real interest in perennial brassicas and have been lucky enough (after 2-3 years of searching) to obtain most of the forms that I wanted.

I now have, 'ehwiger kohl' and 'chou daubenton variegata' thanks to orflo's generosity, the non variegated 'chou daubenton' from two French nurseries, and the elusive tree collard thanks to an eBay seller in the states who sent me some unrooted cuttings.

I hope to use these plants to develop new perennial cultivars by crossing them with annual and biannual brassicas in the hope that perennial plants segregate in the F2.

'ehwiger kohl' and 'chou daubenton' derived plants may be a long time coming as these cultivars are said to rarely if ever flower. But the tree collard's apparently flower yearly so there is more scope there.

Should I be successful in my endeavour I'd be happy to send seed from the new perennial lines to anyone interested.

Admittedly it could be some years before I'm there but nothing good comes easy.

Another option could be to send the more impatient among us some F1 seed to develop their own strains. But that would depend upon having sufficient numbers of flowers available to make surplus crosses, so I cant make any promesses yet.

Still, if your interested give me a shout and I'll let you know when I have something for you.

[johno]

Nine Star looks yummy!

Interesting.

[canadamike]

I am wondering if GA3 would help get them flowering. Somehow, I have that impression. It's been bothering me for a while, like hairs in your shirt collar after you leave the barbershop.

But you wouldn't know how it feels , being the ''mybighair'' type

[mybighair]

Thanks for the suggestion Michel I'll have to look into the GA3, I wouldn't have thought of it myself.

It's been 18 years since scissors last visited my hair, but the distant memory of that home grown itching powder still haunts me; so I do understand the analogy.