Kale
Brassica oleracea var. sabellica
Botanical family: Brassicaceae
An old cultivar of Brassica oleracea var. acephala ('without a head'), close to the primitive cabbages domesticated in Europe over 2000 years ago. Popular in Scotland and northern Europe under the name borecole, rediscovered in France since the 2010s. Sow from April to June, harvest from August to March. Varieties: green curly kale, lacinato ('nero di Toscana'), red Russian. Raw in a young salad, cooked massaged with oil, or as oven chips.
Full sun
Rich, cool, free-draining
Regular
Very hardy (-15 °C, frost softens the leaves)
Overwinters in your zone
Role in permaculture
A non-heading brassica with an upright habit, harvested leaf by leaf moving up the stem over a very long season: one of the bases of the winter 'fresh vegetable' in temperate climates. Frost turns part of the starch into sugars: the leaves become distinctly milder after the first frosts.
Good companions
Attract pollinators and beneficial insects
Trap plants (variable effect, need watching)
Aromatic: scent said to confuse pests
Poor companions
Same family: shared diseases and pests
Traditional avoidance (antagonism not demonstrated)
Insects attracted or useful
Known pests & diseases
Pests and diseases that commonly affect this plant, tap to learn how to recognise and manage them.
Seasons & availability
Kale and greens: available from autumn to early spring.
Available: January, February, March, April, September, October, November, December.
Guidance for the oceanic / temperate climate; it may vary with your region, altitude, exposure and growing method.
Sources
- RHS, « How to Grow Kale » (rhs.org.uk/vegetables/kale/grow-your-own)
- La Ferme de Sainte Marthe, « Réussir la culture du chou kale » (fermedesaintemarthe.com/en/blogs/comment-reussir-la-culture-de/reussir-la-culture-du-chou-kale)
- Garden Organic, « Kale » (gardenorganic.org.uk/expert-advice/how-to-grow/growing-guides/vegetables-herbs-guides/how-to-grow-kale)
Nutritional & medicinal properties
For educational purposes. Not a substitute for medical advice. Effects depend on the form, the dose and personal context.
Precautions & contraindications
Its high vitamin K content calls for caution in case of vitamin-K-antagonist (VKA) anticoagulant treatment: a regular, stable dietary intake is recommended and medical advice is necessary. Like the other crucifers, it contains goitrogens; the risk to the thyroid stays low within a normal, varied consumption, cooking reducing them in part. Raw, it can be harder to digest: massaging the leaves or cooking them improves tolerance.
Family behaviour: Brassicaceae
In general, Brassicaceae produce glucosinolates, sulphur compounds with a mild biocidal effect on the soil (a biofumigant effect, sometimes sought between two sensitive crops). Members of the cabbage and mustard family, they are prone to the cabbage white and clubroot.
Understanding families means learning one rule per family rather than every pairing one by one. Learn more →
Species & varieties
The best-known species and varieties in France.
Common varieties
Voices of peoples
Paraphrases attributed to their documented sources. Never an invented quote.
Lowland Scots; literary critics of the Kailyard (J. H. Millar) · Scotland, Scots-language literature, 1880s–1914 (expression coined in 1895)
In Scots, kale, kail, from Old Norse kál, held such a central place in the diet that the kailyard, that little cabbage patch next to the cottage, ended up designating a whole literary genre. In 1895, in the New Review, the critic J. H. Millar coined the expression 'Kailyard school' to mock a sentimental rural fiction, that of Ian Maclaren, S. R. Crockett, and J. M. Barrie. The etymology of the word and this dated critical usage are attested; on the other hand, linking the emblematic title Beside the Bonnie Brier Bush (Maclaren, 1894) with the Jacobite song 'There grows a bonnie brier bush in our kailyard' is an acknowledged literary allusion, and not independent folkloric proof.
J. H. Millar, New Review, avril 1895 (invention du terme) ; Ian Maclaren, Beside the Bonnie Brier Bush, 1894 ; synthèse encyclopédique « Kailyard school » (Wikipédia) pour l'étymologie kail < vieux norrois kál.
The kailyard first designates the cabbage garden, a symbol of a way of life; its assimilation to a literary genre is a critical usage dated to 1895, not to be confused with an immemorial folk tradition. The link to the Jacobite song is an acknowledged allusion, not an independent folkloric source. Nothing here bears on a medicinal use of the cabbage or constitutes a health claim.