EVERY autumn I make the journey to Spalding in Lincolnshire to visit the major international seed companies’ salads and vegetables trials. The first port of call is always Elsoms Seeds, an independent family business founded in 1844, but my goodness they know how to keep up with the times.
Our tastes change, such as the dark-leaved, almost black kale made popular by chef Jamie Oliver, yet it can take 10-15 years, sometimes more, for breeders to reach qualities they forecast will be in demand when their prodigy is fit to go on sale. The dark-leaved kale ‘Sunbor’ is a good introduction. It has better eating qualities, is easy to grow and so decorative that it can be grown in flower borders as well as in containers.
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