{"id":9701,"date":"2024-04-12T15:29:58","date_gmt":"2024-04-12T22:29:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/?p=9701"},"modified":"2024-04-12T15:30:00","modified_gmt":"2024-04-12T22:30:00","slug":"how-tall-can-dinosaur-kale-get","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/how-tall-can-dinosaur-kale-get\/","title":{"rendered":"How tall can dinosaur kale get?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

(Originally written in December 2021)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next week my daughter turns four, and so does one of the above kale plants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was in December 2017 that I sowed a handful of kale seeds. We ate leaves from the plants that grew through that winter while my daughter was learning to open her eyes and recognize her siblings. Some of the plants continued growing well through the spring and summer too. When they all turned one, I took this picture:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Reeve and the kale plants at one year old.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Then the kale plants succumbed to infestations of aphids or ended their lives naturally by blooming and making seed — except for one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I started to think of this surviving kale plant as special since it was the same age as my daughter. Then a strong storm came through and blew it over. I thought it was a goner, but I staked it back up and it recovered. I took this photo of the two two-year olds:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Reeve and the kale plant at two years old.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The plant is a type of kale often called “Dinosaur” kale because the bumpy leaves resemble the imagined skin of dinosaurs. But it also goes by many other names: Lacinato, Tuscan, Italian, or Black kale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Leaves of Reeve’s dinosaur kale plant.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At some point every year, Reeve’s dinosaur kale plant harbors lots of aphids, but my style is to let nature take its course and so I allow predators like lady bugs and birds and parasitic wasps to eat or utilize them, and the seasonal aphids always eventually vanish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reeve could no longer reach any of the leaves on her kale plant last year, on her third birthday. The highest leaves reached seven feet tall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Reeve and the kale plant at three years old.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And the plant keeps growing. Having been a fixture in the yard for four years now, I don’t always notice it anymore. Visitors point it out though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat is that?\u201d they’ll ask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh yeah, that\u2019s actually a kale plant. It\u2019s many years old and just keeps growing, up and up and up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDo you still eat it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSometimes, but most often I pick its leaves for our chickens.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut it\u2019s edible?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah, let\u2019s pick some.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just last month I ate some of its raw leaves with some visitor friends. They were not as tender as baby kale, but not fibrous or bitter either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why is this one kale plant so tough? Why won\u2019t it flower? How long will it live? How tall will it get?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here in December of 2021 it is four years old and measures 96 inches. That\u2019s eight feet tall!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Reeve and kale plant at four years old.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

UPDATE:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All good things come to an end, and it was in the next summer that Reeve’s super-tall kale plant gave up life. This was my final photo of the plant before cutting it down in July, 2022:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
It had a long and tall run.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Thanks for your support<\/a> so I can keep these Yard Posts coming and ad-free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of my Yard Posts are listed HERE<\/a>.<\/strong>
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Originally written in December 2021) Next week my daughter turns four, and so does one of the above kale plants. It was in December 2017 that I sowed a handful of kale seeds. We ate leaves from the plants that grew through that winter while my daughter was learning to open her eyes and recognize […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13820,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-vegetables"],"yoast_head":"\nHow tall can dinosaur kale get? - Greg Alder's Yard Posts: Southern California food gardening<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Dinosaur kale can continue growing and tasting good for at least two years in a Southern California garden, as mine that is six feet tall shows.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/how-tall-can-dinosaur-kale-get\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How tall can dinosaur kale get? - Greg Alder's Yard Posts: Southern California food gardening\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dinosaur kale can continue growing and tasting good for at least two years in a Southern California garden, as mine that is six feet tall shows.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/how-tall-can-dinosaur-kale-get\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Greg Alder's Yard Posts: Southern California food gardening\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-04-12T22:29:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-04-12T22:30:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/kale-planted-december-2017-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"760\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Greg Alder\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Greg Alder\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/how-tall-can-dinosaur-kale-get\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/how-tall-can-dinosaur-kale-get\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Greg Alder\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/#\/schema\/person\/7c17362732023b01ed23dc69d6fa703a\"},\"headline\":\"How tall can dinosaur kale get?\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-04-12T22:29:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-04-12T22:30:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/how-tall-can-dinosaur-kale-get\/\"},\"wordCount\":528,\"commentCount\":28,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/#\/schema\/person\/7c17362732023b01ed23dc69d6fa703a\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/how-tall-can-dinosaur-kale-get\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/kale-planted-december-2017-1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Vegetables\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/how-tall-can-dinosaur-kale-get\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/how-tall-can-dinosaur-kale-get\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/how-tall-can-dinosaur-kale-get\/\",\"name\":\"How tall can dinosaur kale get? - Greg Alder's Yard Posts: Southern California food gardening\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/how-tall-can-dinosaur-kale-get\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/how-tall-can-dinosaur-kale-get\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/kale-planted-december-2017-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-04-12T22:29:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-04-12T22:30:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"Dinosaur kale can continue growing and tasting good for at least two years in a Southern California garden, as mine that is six feet tall shows.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/how-tall-can-dinosaur-kale-get\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/how-tall-can-dinosaur-kale-get\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/how-tall-can-dinosaur-kale-get\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/kale-planted-december-2017-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/kale-planted-december-2017-1.jpg\",\"width\":900,\"height\":760},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/how-tall-can-dinosaur-kale-get\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How tall can dinosaur kale get?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/\",\"name\":\"Greg Alder's Yard Posts: Southern California food gardening\",\"description\":\"Southern California food gardening\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/#\/schema\/person\/7c17362732023b01ed23dc69d6fa703a\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/#\/schema\/person\/7c17362732023b01ed23dc69d6fa703a\",\"name\":\"Greg Alder\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7ef6613d5043bdbb67157e2bfbbecb138148fad9c893cd424f6f14c5f7ff393e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7ef6613d5043bdbb67157e2bfbbecb138148fad9c893cd424f6f14c5f7ff393e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7ef6613d5043bdbb67157e2bfbbecb138148fad9c893cd424f6f14c5f7ff393e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Greg Alder\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7ef6613d5043bdbb67157e2bfbbecb138148fad9c893cd424f6f14c5f7ff393e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/gregalder.com\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How tall can dinosaur kale get? - Greg Alder's Yard Posts: Southern California food gardening","description":"Dinosaur kale can continue growing and tasting good for at least two years in a Southern California garden, as mine that is six feet tall shows.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/how-tall-can-dinosaur-kale-get\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How tall can dinosaur kale get? - Greg Alder's Yard Posts: Southern California food gardening","og_description":"Dinosaur kale can continue growing and tasting good for at least two years in a Southern California garden, as mine that is six feet tall shows.","og_url":"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/how-tall-can-dinosaur-kale-get\/","og_site_name":"Greg Alder's Yard Posts: Southern California food gardening","article_published_time":"2024-04-12T22:29:58+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-04-12T22:30:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":900,"height":760,"url":"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/kale-planted-december-2017-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Greg Alder","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Greg Alder","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/how-tall-can-dinosaur-kale-get\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/how-tall-can-dinosaur-kale-get\/"},"author":{"name":"Greg Alder","@id":"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/#\/schema\/person\/7c17362732023b01ed23dc69d6fa703a"},"headline":"How tall can dinosaur kale get?","datePublished":"2024-04-12T22:29:58+00:00","dateModified":"2024-04-12T22:30:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/how-tall-can-dinosaur-kale-get\/"},"wordCount":528,"commentCount":28,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/#\/schema\/person\/7c17362732023b01ed23dc69d6fa703a"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/how-tall-can-dinosaur-kale-get\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/kale-planted-december-2017-1.jpg","articleSection":["Vegetables"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/how-tall-can-dinosaur-kale-get\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/how-tall-can-dinosaur-kale-get\/","url":"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/how-tall-can-dinosaur-kale-get\/","name":"How tall can dinosaur kale get? - Greg Alder's Yard Posts: Southern California food gardening","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/how-tall-can-dinosaur-kale-get\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/how-tall-can-dinosaur-kale-get\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/kale-planted-december-2017-1.jpg","datePublished":"2024-04-12T22:29:58+00:00","dateModified":"2024-04-12T22:30:00+00:00","description":"Dinosaur kale can continue growing and tasting good for at least two years in a Southern California garden, as mine that is six feet tall shows.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/how-tall-can-dinosaur-kale-get\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/how-tall-can-dinosaur-kale-get\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/how-tall-can-dinosaur-kale-get\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/kale-planted-december-2017-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/kale-planted-december-2017-1.jpg","width":900,"height":760},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/how-tall-can-dinosaur-kale-get\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How tall can dinosaur kale get?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/#website","url":"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/","name":"Greg Alder's Yard Posts: Southern California food gardening","description":"Southern California food gardening","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/#\/schema\/person\/7c17362732023b01ed23dc69d6fa703a"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/#\/schema\/person\/7c17362732023b01ed23dc69d6fa703a","name":"Greg Alder","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7ef6613d5043bdbb67157e2bfbbecb138148fad9c893cd424f6f14c5f7ff393e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7ef6613d5043bdbb67157e2bfbbecb138148fad9c893cd424f6f14c5f7ff393e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7ef6613d5043bdbb67157e2bfbbecb138148fad9c893cd424f6f14c5f7ff393e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Greg Alder"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7ef6613d5043bdbb67157e2bfbbecb138148fad9c893cd424f6f14c5f7ff393e?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/gregalder.com"]}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/kale-planted-december-2017-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9701"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9701\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19970,"href":"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9701\/revisions\/19970"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}