Walking stick kale

markqz 5/27/2021, 1:19 pm

I'm trying out walking stick kale this year. Part of my idea was that it might become a trellis for squash plants. Little disappointed that I'll have to wait two years to get the 20 foot high kale.

Walking stick kale 7e2zzsE

**Scorpio Rising** 6/1/2021, 7:05 am

Interesting! Keep us posted, Mark!

markqz 6/2/2021, 5:32 pm

Here's a "regular" (Italian, Dinosaur) two year old kale that I've applied some amateur wood workmanship to. The photo angle makes it look like a twig at the bottom, but it's not:

Walking stick kale VN6YDf8

Now I wish I had kept the other long kales for working into sticks.

markqz 7/11/2021, 4:54 pm

The walking stick kale is outside the box and along the fence. The arch over the SFG is four feet high. So at least some of the kale is four foot high. As you can see, it's a bit attacked by looper caterpillars. I'm trying some BT, but there are a lot of leaves!

Walking stick kale PjvEZDy

**sanderson** 7/12/2021, 1:42 am

Is the kale stick really that hard?? To be used as a walk stick/cane.

markqz 7/12/2021, 9:25 am

sanderson wrote:Is the kale stick really that hard?? To be used as a walk stick/cane.

Apparently it will dry hard. There used to be a small walking stick industry on the Island of Jersey. So feed the livestock with the leaves and then sell sticks to visitors. Thanks to sidewalks, smooth roads, and automobiles there isn't such a demand for walking sticks these days.

Yardslave 7/12/2021, 10:37 am

My Kale has long since escaped it's container and is headed for parts unknown. It is sprawled over a bare patch of garden, so I let it "free-range". I don't have Loopers, but the ground squirrels are heavily harvesting the leaves, so the plant resembles a palm tree plantation. I'm worried that those pests will start to invade my raised beds and decimate my summer crop. I set out a squirrel trap in the field where they have mounds, and something/someone has taken off with the trap Evil or Very Mad

markqz 8/23/2021, 1:36 pm

One of the kales is now above the fence line, so at least six feet high. Apparently I will have to let it grow 2 years if I want that exotic 20 foot kale ...

Walking stick kale SnnZfuO

**sanderson** 8/30/2021, 4:56 pm

markqz wrote:Apparently I will have to let it grow 2 years if I want that exotic 20 foot kale ...

markqz 12/22/2021, 2:25 pm

Well, one of them made it to 8 ft. I guess that's a start. If I was desperate for a walking stick I could harvest one.

Walking stick kale ZBiyqme

**sanderson** 12/22/2021, 10:09 pm

Wow! One of the benefits of living in SoCal.

**sanderson** 12/23/2021, 12:01 am

Mark, I didn't know it was a variety! I thought you were just calling it walking stick kale. https://www.rareseeds.com/store/vegetables/new-items-2020/walking-stick-kale

markqz 5/30/2023, 2:04 pm

I can't believe I haven't posted since 2021!

The Walking stick kale is nearly twice the height of the fence. So maybe 12 feet or more. The obvious problem is that we can't reach that high to maintain or harvest leaves. The less obvious problem is that the one "tree" has become so big that it's roots can't hold it in place on their own. It fell over the other day and may actually be dead -- time will tell.

It's been an interesting experiment, but in general the plant is not as attractive as Italian Kale trees. Possibly if you grew them somewhere with lots of rain as a privacy fence.

Walking stick kale ZTUA5Wj

**sanderson** 5/30/2023, 2:39 pm

Yardslave 5/30/2023, 8:01 pm

Here's a picture of my "runaway" kale patch. The tree Kale grew too tall for support and drooped over and now is heading out horizontally in about a 12' X 18" oval thats 4' high.

**sanderson** 5/31/2023, 1:38 pm

Again,

. Someone likes kale.

markqz 9/14/2023, 5:00 pm

Apparently, after being this long in the south land, the walking stick kale wants to become a cactus. Or maybe kale-tus.

Walking stick kale EXd3FvK

OhioGardener 9/14/2023, 5:30 pm

**sanderson** 9/16/2023, 12:27 am

plantoid 9/26/2023, 8:55 pm

I'd love to have half a dozen walking stick kale seeds for my birthday in a cheap small padded card .

Laughing

Dave , the one who reads his PM's

markqz 9/26/2023, 11:52 pm

plantoid wrote:I'd love to have half a dozen walking stick kale seeds for my birthday in a cheap small padded card .
Dave , the one who reads his PM's

I don't think I want to trust my luck with interpol or Scotland yard or whoever checks the mail -- there's apparently all sorts of complications sending seeds internationally.

But you're only 185* miles away from the Isle of Jersey, where the seeds originate and presumably can still be obtained. You can make a day of it!

*Assuming the west end of M4 is somewhere around Swansea

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