Vernal & DaughtersSeed Library, Est. 1911

Brassicaceae · in the live register

Midnight Frill Kale

Brassica oleracea. Outcrossed by hand in the greenhouse from a border kale and a dressing kale, 2016.

Germination
86%
Days
55 days to baby leaf
Habit
24 to 30 in
Light
Part shade tolerated
Sowing
Late summer direct

Dark enough that frost makes it look lit from inside. Cut it and it comes back three times; the fourth cutting is a bonus, not a promise.

From the grower's notes

“Don't baby it. Give it ordinary ground, keep the row marked, and write down what you did. Next year's borrower will be reading your note, not ours.”

The packet carries a pinch of seed and a copy of these notes. Sowing depth, spacing and the season's quirks are penciled on the back by whoever last returned it.