Are grown for greens and as a substitute for cabbage, being more hardy than that vegetable. For summer use sow the seed in the open ground in May or June and cultivate the same as cabbage. For early spring use, sow seed in September and protect during winter. Some of the varieties, like Imperial Long-standing Kale, are so hardy that they may be dug out from under the snow in the winter. Dwarf Curled Scotch is an excellent sort, very tender and fine flavored and with beautiful curled foliage. Dwarf Green Curled Kale and Excelsior Moss Curled Kale are other good sorts, very mossy, attractive and delicious.
Sea Kale, less well known than the annual kale, is a hardy perennial that is cultivated somewhat like asparagus, the seed being sown in the spring in rows three to four feet apart. The seedlings give a crop the third year but quicker results come from planting root cuttings or offsets. The Sea Kale has a very long tap-root and should be grown in rich mellow soil that has been ploughed or dug very deep. As soon as shoots show above the ground blanch with boards, earth, sand or anything that will exclude light until ready for use. When blanched the leaf-stalk is cooked like asparagus or the leaves are used as greens.
KOHL-RABI
(Turnip-rooted cabbage)
The bulb which grows on the stalk a few inches above the ground is the edible part of this vegetable. This is stripped and cooked like turnips, but is much more sweet and delicate. Sow seed in the open ground in June, making the rows sixteen inches apart and thin to six inches in the rows. Sow for succession from early spring until July. Cultivate like cabbage.
LEEKS
Sow seed in April in drills one foot apart and one inch deep. Transplant when large enough to handle or thin to stand six inches apart in the rows, setting the plants as deep as possible so that the earth will come up well about the neck to blanch and insure its whiteness and tenderness. In cultivating draw the earth up about the plants. Seed may also be sown in August or September, the same as onions, and the plants transplanted the following spring.
Prizetaker Leek is a fine exhibition sort. Large Musselburg has enormous broad leaves and a pleasant flavor. Long Mezieres also has broad, erect leaves, fine flavor and a long, snow-white stem and is very hardy. Leeks are a valuable addition to the onion family of the garden.
MARTYNIA
The curious pods of this vine vegetable are used for pickling and produce a very fancy article. They should be gathered when only half grown. Sow the seed in the hotbed in spring and transplant into hills three feet apart each way and cultivate the same as cucumbers. The plants will self-sow and voluntary plants will appear each year so that once established one is quite sure of a supply. Seed may also be sown in the open ground, if preferred, in May.