If you're looking to learn more about growing Dwarf Blue Curled Kale, this is the place.
I love this variety! Also known as Blue Curled Kale or Dwarf Blue Scotch Curled Kale, this heirloom variety usually grows smaller and more compact than many other types of kale.
That makes it easy to grow in container gardens and planters, or even indoors.
Where I live in the desert we grow kale through the winter.
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Dwarf Blue Curled thrives through the frequent drops below freezing we get here at night.
In fact, many climates and zones can grow kale through the winter with no frost cloth or snow cover. Gardeners have reported that Dwarf Blue Curled Kale specifically can be buried in snow in temps down to 0F (-17.7C) or lower and still survive.
It has really incredible cold tolerance if you're growing somewhere with temps regularly below freezing, and can be harvested right up until the ground freezes.
Even after months of cold, Blue Curled Kale leaves stay fresh and tasty.
Light frosts even improve the flavor and add a fantastic sweetness to Curly Blue!
As temperatures approach freezing, kale and other brassicas convert complex carbohydrates into sugars which act as an anti-freeze for the plant. This also leads to a sweeter crop. Many vegetables are planted in autumn specifically so that they go through a winter and gain sweetness before harvest.
Dwarf Blue Curled Kale even does well for folks in Alaska, according to the University of Alaska Extension Office, so you know it'll stand up to the cold!
What Makes Blue Curled Kale Unique?
-Compact size
-Colder tolerance
-Distinct blue-green color
-Curled, ruffly leaves
-Tender leaves when small
-Sweet, not very bitter
How to Grow Dwarf Blue Curled Kale
I start my dwarf Blue Curled Kale around November 1st outdoors here in the low desert.
Indoors, I'll start kale September 1st to move outside November 1st.
It's a great producer throughout the winter and long into the spring.
Best Way to Eat Dwarf Blue Curled Kale
My absolute favorite way to eat kale is to pick the baby leaves fresh and eat them plain.
I find baby kale leaves to be exceptionally tender, and barely bitter at all.
Mine never make it to full-size. I cut-and-come-again on the baby kale and munch away like a bronto in the garden all day! 🦕
Why Does My Dwarf Blue Kale Have Bugs?
Unlike some of the more heat-resistant varieties of kale, I find Dwarf Blue Curled unable to survive the summer where I am in the low desert.
By the time temperatures rise into the 90's F (mid-30's C), the heat stress often brings leafhoppers and aphids.
At 100F (~38C) I've observed that Blue Curled Kale really starts struggling, and the pest populations take full advantage.
I usually take these as signs to cut down the kale and switch to warmer-season crops.
That said, Blue Curled Kale can make it through the summer in less-extreme climates. If your soil is rich, moist, and full of nutrients your kale will have a much better time with the heat.
Combined with shade cloth or taller shade plants / trees, you may even find it possible to grow this variety year-round.
While kale is most-often grown as an annual, it's actually a biennial which flowers in its second year (though it may flower prematurely under stressful conditions).
If you're able to grow Dwarf Blue Curly Kale year-round in your climate, you'll be able to collect seeds in year two if you're into seed-saving. Just remember that many species of brassica readily cross, so your seeds may hybridize if you don't isolate your kale or cover the flowers.
Final Thoughts...
While some kale varieties are better-suited for the heat, Dwarf Blue Curled Kale is uniquely cold-tolerant - so it's got a place in your lineup during the colder months and may grow right through your winter season depending on your Hardiness Zone.
Have you grown Dwarf Blue Curled Kale in your climate? I'd love to hear about your results and how you use this cold-tolerant variety in the comments below!
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