Dinosaur Kale, Black Tuscany, Brassica oleracea
$0.69
Black Tuscany or Lacinato is a classic Italian heirloom. It's also called 'Dinosaur Kale' because of its dark wrinkly leaves, but its flavor is mild and gentle. Young leaves are delicious in salads. Mature leaves are great steamed or cooked in pasta sauce and soup and they make fabulous kale chips.
Black Tuscany grows 2' to 3' tall. Baby leaves can be harvested as soon as 30 days, mature at 60 days. As with all kales, they're cold hardy and their flavor is enhanced by frost. Sow them early and have greens in a month.
Germination:
Thoroughly moisten your seed-starting mix, and then fill your pots/containers to within 1/2" of the top. Do not tamp soil, keep soil loose and fluffy.
Place seedson the surface of you pot, cover the seed with about 1/8" of soil.
Water to ensure good seed-to-mix contact. You can use a plant mister or just dribble a stream of water over the top. You don't need to soak the soil, just moisten the top layer.
(You don't want to heavily water and "push" seeds to deep that they can't germinate.)
Keep the mix moist but not soaking wet. Lay some plastic kitchen wrap and a rubber band over pots to keep in heat and moisture.
Place the pots in a warm, sunny spot or on top of a heat mat. (Seeds won't germinate until the soil itself is 75-80 degrees.)
Check pots daily. As soon as you see sprouts, remove the covering.
250 seeds
Black Tuscany grows 2' to 3' tall. Baby leaves can be harvested as soon as 30 days, mature at 60 days. As with all kales, they're cold hardy and their flavor is enhanced by frost. Sow them early and have greens in a month.
Germination:
Thoroughly moisten your seed-starting mix, and then fill your pots/containers to within 1/2" of the top. Do not tamp soil, keep soil loose and fluffy.
Place seedson the surface of you pot, cover the seed with about 1/8" of soil.
Water to ensure good seed-to-mix contact. You can use a plant mister or just dribble a stream of water over the top. You don't need to soak the soil, just moisten the top layer.
(You don't want to heavily water and "push" seeds to deep that they can't germinate.)
Keep the mix moist but not soaking wet. Lay some plastic kitchen wrap and a rubber band over pots to keep in heat and moisture.
Place the pots in a warm, sunny spot or on top of a heat mat. (Seeds won't germinate until the soil itself is 75-80 degrees.)
Check pots daily. As soon as you see sprouts, remove the covering.
250 seeds
