Sea Kale

Crambe maritima

Description

Sea Kale is a beautiful, low-lying herbaceous perennial with thick, broad leaves of a beautiful blue-green. The leaves, florets, and flowers are all edible, with succulently juicy crunch and slightly peppery flavor. They come up early in the spring before most greens are even in the ground yet, providing much needed nourishment in the cool spring months.

Sea Kale is a hardy plant that is very reliable once established and can be easily propagated from root cuttings, or, slightly less easily, from seed. They have shown to be very resistant to deer and rabbit browse.

We offer both rooted crowns and root fragments. Most rooted crowns will be ready for harvesting within the first year, and can be further divided after the second, while the root fragments might be a year behind. Both options, however, will produce healthy plants that should last a long time and provide an abundance of food and future plant stock.

Site Preference

Evolved on the cold, salty beaches of northern Scotland, Sea Kale can thrive in most places you would think to put it in the garden. Poor, sandy soils near a salty road, no problem. Rich, loamy soils in a cultivated garden bed, no problem. Being a coastal plant, Sea Kale does like full sun, but can still grow quite vigorously in partial shade. Can also be grown in a large pot (≥12”) on a porch or balcony.

Hardiness

Zone 5, possibly Zone 4