Tasty, nutritious sea kale is coming back into fashion and is grown in a similar way to rhubarb
For your veggie patch, windowsill or in pots
Sea kale (Crambe maritima) is a native perennial vegetable that offers a flavoursome crop when little else is in season. You may have seen it growing on shingle beaches.
Producing a mound of wavy blue leaves, sea kale is an attractive ornamental for gravel gardens, but can also be grown as an edible crop. A popular food in times gone by, it is now being used again by top chefs.
It’s grown using terracotta forcer pots (the sort used for rhubarb) or another method of blocking out the light to soften and sweeten the shoots. The resulting white-cream stems are cooked by blanching; the flavour is reminiscent of asparagus and cabbage.
Sea kale can be bought ready-grown as a herbaceous perennial or started from seed under cover. The best option is to plant it as “thongs” (root cuttings) in spring. These are hard to find for sale, so buy a plant – the bigger the better – and take your own.
In winter or spring, dig up a plant that is two years old or more. Cut off some healthy side roots, around a pencil’s width, close to the crown; take no more than one third of the plant. Discard lateral roots, trim off the thin end of the root and cut the rest into 5-10cm lengths; a flat cut at the top, an angled cut at the base.
Plant 5cm deep, 75cm apart in very well-drained soil (dig in grit or sand if necessary) in full sun in a permanent (not rotational) bed, or in large well-drained pots of compost, sand and grit. In January, cover outdoor plants with forcer pots or tubs, then harvest the pale stems when they are 10-12cm.
Pot-grown crops are kept outside, then brought in and covered two weeks before you want to harvest. It’s best not to force and harvest stems from the plant until its second or third year, but this ancient vegetable is worth the wait.
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