Brassica oleracea var. sabellica.

One of the oldest kales still in cultivation, and the classic representative of the Scottish curly type — a variety so embedded in the culture of the northern British Isles that the Scots word kail (equivalent to kale in English) came colloquially to mean the meal, or the garden itself. The "kail yard" was the family vegetable patch around the rural Scottish home, and the kail was the daily soup served to Highlands peasants for centuries — long before the vegetable became the star superfood of modern smoothies. The Scottish national poet Robert Burns mentions it regularly in his verses, the testimony of a daily food so essential it became synonymous with life itself. Botanically, curly kale belongs to the sabellica group of the extraordinary species Brassica oleracea — that unique wild plant of the cliffs of the Mediterranean and the North Sea that, through human selection, gave rise to headed cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprout, kohlrabi and so many others.

A squat, compact plant 35-45 cm tall (hence the "dwarf" in the name), forming a dense, well-held rosette of deep blue-green leaves intensely curled and ruffled at the edges — an almost mossy, architectural texture that makes the variety as decorative as it is useful. Classic curly-kale flavour: vegetal, slightly bitter, milder when the leaves are young or cooked, much sweeter after the first autumn frosts (the plant then converts its starches to sugars to resist the cold — a fascinating piece of plant chemistry that turns an October kale into a delicate dish).

A thousand culinary uses: pan-sautéed with garlic and olive oil, in Italian zuppa toscana or Portuguese caldo verde (the two great Mediterranean peasant soups of kale, sausage and potato), as kale chips in the oven (5 minutes at 175 °C with olive oil and salt), raw-massaged with lemon for a tender salad, or fermented as Korean-style kale kimchi. The leaves tend to keep very well on the plant — harvest as needed throughout the season.

Grower's tip: Probably the most Québécois of the cabbages. Hardy to −10 °C and beyond, Dwarf Curled Scotch survives the first snows and often continues to be picked into December under a thin protective snow cover. Under good snow cover, some plants overwinter entirely and resume production the following spring. Start indoors 6-8 weeks before transplanting (mid-March for summer and fall harvest), or direct-sow late May to late June for fall and early-winter harvest. Harvest by taking the outer leaves as needed — never pick the heart, which keeps growing and producing new leaves all season. Like all brassicas, sensitive to the cabbage worm — insect netting is useful from transplanting on.

• Open-pollinated. Biennial; flowers in the second year. Insect-pollinated; crosses with all other Brassica oleracea — isolate for seed saving.
• Height: 35-45 cm.
• Maturity: 55-65 days for young leaves, 70-75 for mature leaves.
• Exposure: full sun; part shade accepted in summer.
• Rich, well-drained, neutral-to-slightly-alkaline soil. Space plants 40-45 cm apart.
• Start indoors in mid-March for summer harvest, or direct-sow late May to late June for fall and winter harvest. Withstands frosts to −10 °C and beyond; can overwinter under snow cover.