DELIVERY INFO: Order autumn plants now for delivery from late August - See FAQs for more info.
Cavolo Nero Black Kale – Nero di Toscano (Autumn)
(10 Plug Plants)
Easy to grow organic plants
Crops for a long time
Plant until late Autumn
Delivery from late August
£5.99
A popular kale plant for autumn growing
This Italian kale has beautiful dark green leaves and looks really striking in the vegetable patch when it’s fully grown. In fact, many people choose to plant it in borders for exactly that reason. It’s easy to grow (easier than many other brassicas) and will provide you with leaves for several months, right into spring. You’ll find it grows slowly over the coldest months, but you should be able to enjoy a crop from late November onwards, depending on the weather. You’ll receive a complete growing guide with the plug plants when they arrive.
Number of plants: 10 plug plants
Variety: Nero di Toscana (organic*)
In the kitchen: Add kale to stews, steam it, or fry it up with a little garlic butter.
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[post_content] => For those of you keen to plan for a crop of year round cabbages, kale, broccoli and cauliflower, here's a quick guide of when to plant and when to harvest... this is a rough guide only and will depend on how warm/cold/rainy/frosty/snowy it is during the growing season!!
Our current brassica plants will be available until early August, then we will have a new batch of autumn brassica plants available for despatch in September and October.
[post_title] => A Brassica Planting & Harvesting Calendar
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The brassica family is a big one in the veg world with the likes of broccoli, cauliflower, cabbages, kale, turnips, swede, and Chinese cabbages all playing a part. As it's such a big family, we thought it was worth bundling them all together for a few top tips...
Why grow them?
They have a good reputation for providing plenty of vitamin C and they have properties that many believe can prevent cancer cells from building. To keep all the goodness in when you cook them, try steaming or stir-frying. Boiling them takes out a lot of the nutritious value. We’re particularly fond of broccoli and cabbages stir-fried with a little freshly chopped garlic, red chilli and ginger with a squeeze of lime and a drop or two of soy sauce. Delicious!
Growing them:
They are easy to grow in the UK and can all be looked after in much the same way. Choose a nice sunny site with deep, moisture retentive soil (a raised bed is ideal for brassicas) and plant them 30-40cm apart. When you plant them, we’d advise not giving them any water for a few days. This encourages them to put their roots down nice and deep which will make them stronger as they grow.
During dry spells water them regularly, to make sure they don’t dry out, but other than that you’re best to leave them to their own devices. With their nice deep roots they won’t have too much trouble finding the water that they need.
What to look out for:
You’ll need to protect them from frosts when it’s chilly - some horticultural fleece loosely draped over them should do the trick. And we highly recommend putting a brassica collar around the base of the baby plants to protect against cabbage root fly which is a real pain! You can buy these collars from a garden centre or cut a 15cm circle out of cardboard or old carpet, make an incision from the outside edge to the centre of the disc and lay it around the base of the stem. The reason for doing this is to prevent the cabbage root fly from laying their eggs here. If the eggs are laid and hatch, the maggots bury down into the roots and slowly destroy your lovely brassicas. And probably the first you’ll see of it is slow growth and a wilting plant.
Our favourites:
Cavolo Nero - loads of nutrition in just a few leaves
Red Cabbage - so good looking and really tasty
Pak Choi - brilliant in stir fries
[post_title] => A bit about Brassicas
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[post_content] => This classic combination makes for a lovely, warming autumn lunch with some flat bread or pitta. If you've got golden beetroot growing too, it looks lovely!
Ingredients:
3-4 medium beetroot
2-3 handful kale, washed & chopped
50g feta, crumbled
olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
handful fresh herbs, chopped - eg mint, parsley or dill
wedge of lemon
sea salt and pepper
Method:
Boil the beetroot (whole) in a pan of water for approx 40-60 mins until they are tender and cooked through
Let the beetroot cool so that you can peel them, then crush them or chop them into bite size chunks
Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan
Add the garlic, kale and beetroot and fry for 2-3 minutes
Squeeze over the lemon juice, season with salt and pepper
To serve, toss the beetroot and kale in a bowl with the crumbled feta and herbs
For those of you keen to plan for a crop of year round cabbages, kale, broccoli and cauliflower, here’s a quick guide of when to plant and when to harvest…...
The brassica family is a big one in the veg world with the likes of broccoli, cauliflower, cabbages, kale, turnips, swede, and Chinese cabbages all playing a part. As it’s...
This classic combination makes for a lovely, warming autumn lunch with some flat bread or pitta. If you’ve got golden beetroot growing too, it looks lovely! Ingredients: 3-4 medium beetroot...
This isn’t a query about this order, but I wanted to thank you for the plants you sent. They are happily settled in, having arrived in good condition. Also, I was most impressed by your packaging, its quality, its recyclable material and the care with which the plants were packed. I look forward to future orders, my first having been excellent. All best wishes.
J.H
“”
I just like to thank your company for my past issues in my order… I appreciate your customer service and this is why I will always stick with this company
A.S
“”
My passionate wish is that everyone should grow a little of their own food. Rocket Gardens are the perfect way to get started on a veg patch if you’re new to growing or if, like me, you’ve got a bit behind with the digging and missed the start of the season!
The 
Growing them:
They are easy to grow in the UK and can all be looked after in much the same way. Choose a nice sunny site with deep, moisture retentive soil (a raised bed is ideal for brassicas) and plant them 30-40cm apart. When you plant them, we’d advise not giving them any water for a few days. This encourages them to put their roots down nice and deep which will make them stronger as they grow.
During dry spells water them regularly, to make sure they don’t dry out, but other than that you’re best to leave them to their own devices. With their nice deep roots they won’t have too much trouble finding the water that they need.
What to look out for:
You’ll need to protect them from frosts when it’s chilly - some horticultural fleece loosely draped over them should do the trick. And we highly recommend putting a brassica collar around the base of the baby plants to protect against cabbage root fly which is a real pain! You can buy these collars from a garden centre or cut a 15cm circle out of cardboard or old carpet, make an incision from the outside edge to the centre of the disc and lay it around the base of the stem. The reason for doing this is to prevent the cabbage root fly from laying their eggs here. If the eggs are laid and hatch, the maggots bury down into the roots and slowly destroy your lovely brassicas. And probably the first you’ll see of it is slow growth and a wilting plant.
Our favourites:
