Kale is one of our tastiest and most versatile brassicas and many, though not all, varieties withstand whatever a Scottish winter throws at them. But a few kales are less robust so should be enjoyed in autumn and early winter.

In my book ‘Emerald Ice’ is the most attractive and tasty of these early, more tender specimens. It enhances any border, with its eye-catching broad white ribs and dabs of white on the light green, mouth-watering leaves.

Kale leaves are at their tastiest when between 30 and 45cm long, becoming a bit tougher and more bitter when much more than that. So pick autumn specimens like ‘Emerald Ice’ quite generously, but go easy on the late winter/early spring varieties as they’ll need some foliage to keep growing. Like ‘Emerald Ice’, ‘Nero di Toscana’ is a good early season performer and its slim blue-green crinkled leaves are an asset to any border, especially as, unusually for kale, they’re upward growing and make easy picking.

‘Nero di Toscana’ doesn’t usually perform well in both autumn and spring and you’ll find a few plants simply die over the winter. Those that come through the winter start producing little tufts of tiny leaves at plant nodes and they are the ones to pick in spring once around 10-15cm long.

All kales do this in early spring and this new growth is what to pick. An all-season stalwart is ‘Green Curled’. Sow early in April so there’s a good chance of the plants reaching the full metre I’d expect. You can pick throughout the winter, though regrowth is very slow, and then in early spring it produces a mass of delicious little side shoots.

Read more Dave Allan

Unfortunately, some of my late winter favourites like ’Ragged Jack’ and ‘Lacinato’ aren’t available any more, despite their robustness. So I have to save my own seed, which is very easy with brassicas, provided you only let one variety flower each year. Otherwise, the plants will hybridise and you’ll certainly not get the plants you’re expecting.

And while I’m on about saving seed, some years ago, we chanced upon a wild brassica growing at the back of a Devon beach, so took a couple of seed pods. Brassica oleracea is the parent of many of the leafy brassicas but looks most like a kale, but with more bitter leaves than usual. I like their tangy flavour when a few leaves are mixed with other kales or in a stir fry. Interestingly, unlike most brassicas, this wild kale is a short-lived perennial and grows into a mammoth beast after a few years.

Anyway, back to more readily available kale. The heritage Asparagus kale is carried by some seed companies now and is an excellent choice at any time, but especially in spring. Though lower growing, with a wider spread than usual, it produces a generous harvest of sweet, succulent leaves.

The Real Seed Company carries a good selection of more unusual vegetable varieties, like Asparagus kale, and is well worth visiting. ‘Sutherland kale’ is another rare variety which, to the best of my knowledge is only available from this supplier. As its name implies, you’ll get no hardier specimen than this and you’ll be guaranteed a brilliant and long lasting spring harvest as well as some now.

Euonymus alatus or Winged SpindleEuonymus alatus or Winged Spindle (Image: free)

Plant of the week

Euonymus alatus or Winged Spindle, is a shrub whose leaves turn brilliant shades of scarlet and crimson in autumn. As a bonus it has purple and pink berries that split to reveal orange seeds.

For the rest of the year it is a modest plant with dark green leaves, though the winged stems are interesting in winter. For the best autumn colour grow in moist, well drained soil and full sun.