Now this is a great idea! Organic Gardner comments:
I did an experiment and let several plants go to seed. I hung them upside down on my fence to dry and let the birds peck at the pods and spread the seeds. now our entire fence is lined with the plant. I think technically it’s a mustard green vs. a kale. Anyway it tastes great and keeps coming back every year and makes great edible and decorative landscape. The fence keeps it partially shaded/cooler so it doesn’t bolt as quickly.
That comment was left on my 2014 post about Ethiopian Kale.
By allowing the plant to self-seed (bird-seed?), Organic Gardner let nature select the strongest plants for his area.
This is good gardening!
It reminds me of what Joseph Lofthouse does, but on a backyard scale.
Some years ago, we threw Seminole pumpkin scraps into a garden bed we were using to make compost. The plants that lived gave us a great yield with no work. There were probably a few hundred seeds in there. Some grew and we got lots more pumpkins from those survivors.
I love the idea of doing the same with Ethiopian kale. It’s scrappy and well-suited to Florida and the Deep South.
Throw those seeds around and see what happens.
2 comments
Up here I don’t have to plant red russian kale anymore as long as I leave a plant here and there to go to seed since it’s a biannual. All the harvest, none of the work (except thinning/weeding all the seedling kale).
I am growing Ethiopian kale for the 1st time in East Central Florida, zone 9B. I planted it back in September and it has been producing for months. It does not show signs of going to seed – yet (2/27/2022) – but we have been having weeks with temps in the mid 80’s (in January and February) so it may happen soon.
I like that the stems cook to be tender. The plant is tall and top-heavy. It will fall over and sprawl unless you stake it. The only negative: when I break off leaves to cook, the plant has a slight odor similar to garlic. (I **hate** garlic.) However, it does not taste like garlic. Seeds for this can be expensive and hard to find. I will be saving seeds and sharing with the garden club I belong to.