Days to Maturity: 62 from setting out transplants
Grow the same delectable kale that has been a mainstay of Italian cuisine and international fine dining since the 1700's! Lacinato kale (also known as Dinosaur kale, Tuscan kale, and even Flat Black cabbage) is an heirloom variety that delivers the best tasting leaves you will ever eat, all on vigorous, high-yielding plants that love a little frost.
Even if this kale weren't so delicious, growing the plants would be fun. They're just so boldthe leaves are very long and slender, reaching 2 feet long but just a few inches wide, with a heavily savoyed texture that looks almost bubbled. Depending on the time of year and the temperature, they range from blue-green to darkest forest-green to nearly black.
And these leaves are harvested from underneath, at the base, so that after you've picked a good many, you're left with a plant that looks like a mini palm treeleading to another of Lacinato kale's many nicknames, Palm Tree kale! Expect to do plenty of harvesting, too, over the long season of this robust plant!
Lacinato kale is prepared just like other varieties. Although it can be eaten raw, it is more frequently blanched and then used in soups, stews, casseroles, and side dishes. It holds up well to reheating, keeping both its color and flavor nicely.
Begin the seeds indoors, transplanting when they have at least 2 sets of true leaves. Space the plants 3 feet apart in sun-soaked, light soil. Frost sweetens the flavor.
