Field of Science

Can you eat flowering kale?

A curious reader wants to know if you can eat flowering kale?  Yes.  That was easy.  Flowering kale differs from regular kale in having short internodes so the leaves make a dense rosette of leaves.  It also forms pigments, or not, often in the leaves in the center of the rosette, so the overall effect is that of a flower, sort of.  Nonetheless, just like garden kale, flowering kale is quite resistant to cool weather and frosts providing garden color and design when most things are going dormant for the winter.  In fact kale is actually better tasting after exposure to some cold temperatures.  You can eat flowering kale just like regular kale.  One of the best ways to use kale is in soups; here's one example, a Portuguese kale soup.  HT to Jardin botanique de Montréal for making this picture available via the Wikimedia Creative Commons.   

8 comments:

Clarissa said...

A while ago, I posted a photo of this plant on my blog and asked people what this was and whether it was eatable. It's good finally to have an answer and a recipe. :-)

The Phytophactor said...

Sorry that I missed it. My bad.

CelticRose said...

Flowering kale is not only edible but yummy! It used to be available in grocery stores around here, and I would eat it in salads. It tastes like a combination of cabbage and kale. The white variety tastes like green cabbage and the purple variety tastes like red cabbage.

Unfortunately I haven't seen it in the stores for years, and I don't have the space to grow it. :(

Anonymous said...

Sobeys in Canada has both

Unknown said...

Can bearded dragons eat flowering kale? They are able 2 eat regular kale.

The Phytophactor said...

Don't know if bearded dragons want 2 (to) eat flowering kale, but if they did, they could.

Unknown said...

Ok thank you. I'm thinking of ideas what to plant in a raised garden mainly that my babies can eat along with myself.

Anonymous said...

Mmmmm I don't know.