SEA KALE.
A robust member of the Mustard Family grows on the west coasts of Europe, right down on the dunes, to the line the tide reaches. In other countries it is considered a weed, but along the English Channel the people who live near the beach claim the sea-kale that grows in front of their ground. When the cold weather comes and the tops die down, the natives go out with shovels and heap sand and gravel a foot deep or more on the stumps. This keeps the kale from being trampled, and when the new shoots spring up in March, it keeps them from turning green. For three weeks or more the harvest of the sea-kale is sent to city markets, where the long, fleshy and perfectly blanched stalks supply a delicately flavored vegetable, at a season when fresh vege tables are scarce.
Copying the methods of the shore people of Hampshire, gardeners grow sea-kale from seed and from root cuttings, and year after year cover the tops and cut the blanched leaves as they reach proper size. The bitter of green mustard leaves is dissipated by the bleaching, and the broad leaf stalks, with just a hint of the blades starting, are delicious when boiled until tender and served as asparagus is. The flavor of hazel nuts is very marked. Americans who taste this vegetable, properly cooked, wish to grow it at home. The same culture as that given rhubarb is right. It is easy of culture where rhubarb will grow. The plants live several years.