Brassica oleracea costata
| Brassica oleracea | |
| Light: |   |
| Moisture: |  |
| Hardiness: | 8 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Self Pollinated | |
| Life Cycle: | Biennial |
| Height: | 5' |
| Blooms: | Late Spring-Late Summer |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Brassica oleracea costata (common name: couve tronchuda)
Propagation: Seed - sow in a seedbed outdoors in April. Plant out as space permits in summer. Do not let the seedlings get overcrowded or they will soon become leggy and will not make such good plants. If your seedlings do get leggy, it is possible to plant them rather deeper into the soil - the buried stems will soon form roots and the plant will be better supported.
Cultivation: Succeeds in full sun in a well-drained fertile preferably alkaline soil[1][2]. Prefers a heavy soil[1]. Succeeds in any reasonable soil, but is best when grown in a rich soil[3].
Couve tronchuda is a non-hearting form of cabbage with large green leaves and prominent white midribs that are available to eat mainly in the autumn[2]. The plant is transitional between the hearting cabbages and the kales[2]. Occasionally cultivated for its edible leaves and leaf stem, it is taller growing than the cabbages but less hardy, tolerating temperatures down to between -5 and -10°c[2].
One report suggests that it might be resistant to club root[3].
A good bee plant[4].
Range: A cultivated form of B. oleracea.
Habitat: Not known in the wild.
Edibility: Leaves - raw or cooked[5][6][3][2]. Tender[7]. Most commonly eaten as a vegetable, though the younger and more tender leaves can be added to salads. Some people find the raw leaves hard to digest[K]. The leaves can be available all through the winter[7].
The leaf ribs are cooked like seakale (Crambe maritima.)[6][3].
Pollinators: Bees
Habit: Biennial
Soil: Can grow in light, medium, and heavy soils.
Drainage: Prefers well drained soil.
Wind: Tolerates maritime wind exposure
In Leaf: Evergreen
Seed Ripens: Mid Summer-Early Fall
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Heavy Clay: Grows in heavy-clay soils.
Links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Simons, Arthur. New Vegetable Growers Handbook. Penguin, 1977.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Organ, John. Rare Vegetables for Garden and Table. Faber, 1960.
- ↑ International Bee Research Association. Garden Plants Valuable to Bees. International Bee Research Association, 1981.
- ↑ Hedrick, Ulysses. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications, 1972.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Vilmorin-Andrieux. The Vegetable Garden. Ten Speed Press.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Phillips, Roger and Martyn Rix. Vegetables. Macmillan Reference Books, 1995.