When it comes to ease of growing in the vegetable garden one of the things we could all think about planting would be perenial kales .

Perenial Kale as the name suggests are short lived  perennials and  five years would be average before it starts to grow more slowly but as they are easy to take cuttings from there worth considering as more permanent plantings in our vegetable gardens and potagers

They used to be a lot more perennial kales and brassicas but Edwardian seed merchants selected them for biennial flowering  so that they could sell more seeds

The two commonest perennial kales   you are most likely to find are Taunton Deane and Daubentons

The smaller of these is Daubenton rarely growing more than 3 feet high with the spread of about the same so looks like a low growing bush , this habit also helps it to propagate itself as roots will form were side shoots come into contact with the soil .

It’s thought to have originated in France and incidentally was named after the great French naturalist Louis-Jean-Marie Daubenton

It grew in his home town of Montbard in the Bourgogne region in eastern France and was described by him in his book, “Instruction pour les bergers et pour les proprietaires de troupeaux” (“Advice to shepherds and owners of flocks”

Daubenton is also the  same naturalist for whom the Daubentons  bat is named, this is the one you have probably seen feeding over a pond as they  specalise in catching insects above water

Daubentons kales although smaller will grow for years and years and there are reports of some being decades old.

If you’re growing in a potager or mixed flower/vegetable border   there is an  even rarer but equally tasty varigated Daubentons kale with a delicate pale edge with can look very effective in a mixed planting, it is suppost to have a better taste than the normal one but I find them very similar

Taunton Deane is an altogether much larger perennial kale can easily grow to 2 m tall and 2 m wide  so in mixed plantings needs  placed at the back of the border.

It has a darker purply midrib and larger green/blue leaves which are quite architectural in the flower garden and is thought to have originated in the West countries were there are also local varieties like ‘Woburn’ kale (wiltshire) ‘Egloskerry’ kale (Cornwall)

Perenial kale is very hardy both these are extremely nutritious as I can accumulate lots of minerals from the soil because of there extensive root systems

interestingly both kales are said to be  far less prone to attack from pests and diseases, but in my experience are still attacked by slug, caterpillars when young plants and  Pigeons during the Winter

Taunton Dean needs to be replaced around every five years as after this time it slows down noticeably but it’s quite easy to take cuttings

This ability to produce endless replacements and long harvesting season could be one of the other names you see these plants referred to as cottagers kale as they were a staple of these productive vegetable gardens

Take cuttings any perennial kale simply pinch off one of the sideshoots roughly 4 to5 inches long which will have knobbly ridges these are incipient roots , trim off any stems leaving just the top two small leaves insert this into a pot of gritty compost and keep moist you should notice routing In about four weeks. They seem to take an root better if cuttings are taken from May   through to October so it’s quite easy to replace your tiles once you have them in your garden.

Harvesting

Pick leaves from the plant once it is well-established and growing well,they will soon be replaced and can be harvested again.Harvest can often continue through the winter especially when the weather is mild as they will continue to grow

kales can lose quite a lot of its leaves in Autumn  so stop harvesting for a while if regrowth seems slower than normal .The flavour of  the leaves become sweeter and tenderer as the weather gets colder