The kale group traces its ancestry back to wild cabbage thought to have grown in the eastern Mediterranean as far back as the 3rd century — a lineage that produced Scots kale, Russian kale, Siberian kale, and the familiar curly forms found in markets today. Plants grow 2 to 4 feet tall and wide in full sun, tolerating a wide range of amended, well-drained soils. In the South they can be grown through an entire winter, surviving frost and light freezes with equanimity, their flavor measurably improving after a cold spell.

The leaves run from light to dark green, blue-green to red-tinged, flat to dramatically curly, with margins that range from frilly to deeply serrated. Curly varieties hold their structure in long-simmered soups and braises; flat-leaf Russian types require almost no cooking, making them ideal for quick stir-fries. Harvest from the bottom of the stem upward, removing the largest leaves first to encourage continued production. In late winter, plants bolt and send up clusters of small yellow flowers — modest in appearance, but among the earliest forage available to bees returning to the garden.