Tuscan Black/Lacinato Kale is very attractive in the garden with its dark blue-green leaves, but it's also very delicious. I like to treat kale as a 'cut and come again' crop, trimming off the tender young leaves for eating, which encourages more leaves to form, making a nice bushy plant. As with most kale, this variety is frost hardy.
I've grown tat soi a few times. This year I started seeds (labeled tat soi, no particular cultivar) indoors in January, planted them outside March 8, they grew well and showed signs of bolting May 5. It has been cool and wet since mid March, so it is not bolting due to heat. I like the cute leaves and flat rosettes of this plant, the taste is mild, the texture like a meaty spinach leaf. I have had volunteers in the past in fall, and they were extremely cold tolerant into winter.
Although this plant was listed in garden guides as being winter hardy only in zone 9, I tried it in my zone 8 garden as a winter crop with great success. It grew slowly when the weather was cold, but never showed damage from frost, and was tender and mild when harvested.
More than most Brassicas, Brussels sprouts are dependent on the soil type to produce properly. In soil that is not sufficiently compacted, sprouts will be loose and leafy rather than tight and round. For illustration of this, compare photos submitted by vic (tight sprouts) to the one from bitbit (looser sprouts). However, flavor is not affected, so you can grow tasty Brussels sprouts even if your garden, like mine, is built on sandy soil.
This was the favorite winter green from my childhood. It will take more freezing weather than any brassica I know. It is a very compact plant that gets, at best, just over a foot tall. Very dark, heavily curled leaves. There are more productive and better tasting varieties today, but this is still a good one.
Vates is a variant of the old Blue Curled Scotch developed by Virginia Tech (VPI) in 1950. Bigger plant, less curl, lighter green, and more vigorous. Today it is often vended as Blue Curled Scotch
One of the most beatiful vegetables, this plant creates fractal shapes in its head and has a vibrant pale green color. Even more striking is the flavor, mild and nutty, with no bitterness at all. It has the best qualities of both broccoli and cauliflower. The leaves are also edible, although they have a stronger flavor than the head and can be tough when they are large.
Long the standard in the deep south. Large vigorous plant with wide-spaced leaves. Typically harvested from the bottom up and is sometimes called the walking collard. Not my favorite as the smaller loose-heading varieties are much more tender and flavorful.
This is a 19th century cultivar that hasn't improved much over time. It is like a turnip that grows above ground. Taste is almost identical to the core of a cabbage. Cabbage cores were highly prized when I was a kid. This one is about a week later than White Vienna and larger, about the size of a Purple Top White Globe turnip, but the flesh is harder. Here it can be grown only in the very early spring/late winter or overwintered. It does not tolerate heat. Approx 60 days from seed.
Been a lot of years since I grew Snowball, back in the 60's in Virginia. It was fair, but not competive with any of the hybrids I have grown since. Small heads which separate quickly. Not as reliable to head either. Usually had about 10-15 percent that did not properly head.
