[Seedgeeks] Brassica Fantasy - was Dan, Gabriel and all

[Ben Haskell]

Well, I just joined  seedgeeks tonight because I found Dan's comments 
about perennial Brassicas on Google! LOL!

About perennial collards: If my memory is correct, they were offered in 
the 2007 yearbook of Seed Savers Exchange. I haven't ordered any yet.

Right now I am interested in tall kales. I just got some seed from 
Australia for "Chou Moellier" from a guy named "Col" on ebay. I believe 
that this strain is a tall "marrow stem" kale. Germination so far is 
about 50%.  I'll put it outside in a week or two.

Several years ago I grew some "Giant Walking Stick Kale" from Nichols 
Garden Nursery (I assume their seed is from Peace Seeds).  I also have 
my eye on some Portuguese "Couve Galega". Both of these have thinner 
stems than a "marrow stem" proper should have. I've been looking at some 
forage kales which have tall marrow stem ancestry, but the recent 
breeding has yielded shorter plants with thinner stems.

My fantasy is to cross Kohl Rabi with a tall marrow stem kale. The idea 
is to come up with a super tender tall marrow stem kale.... or to come 
up with a giant Kohl Rabi. While Kohl Rabi in the supermarket is about 
the size of a baseball; the end result of this cross would be a Kohl 
Rabi the size of a baseball bat.  The analogy would be a golfball sized 
red radish compared to a daikon.  The irony is that I have never tasted 
Kohl Rabi - the supermarked versions look like too much work (peeling, 
etc). To my fantasy I may also add some "couve trochunda portuguese 
cabbage","Green Glaze Collards",  Chinese Kale/Broccoli, and "Purple 
Cape Cauliflower" (the latter for some perennial characteristics).