Have you heard of—or tried—Kalettes yet? If you enjoy Kale and Brussel Sprouts, this may be of interest.

We grew these last year, but they didn’t do so well, and froze with our first frost, even though they were under a cloche. We may try again but with limited sunny growing space we’ll probably wait and dedicate our space to kale and bok choy which do well for us, at least until we have more garden space to experiment with.

But we love Brussels and kale, so it would be cool to have a good crop of kalettes. If you’ve grown these successfully, please let us know.

Kalettes® are a brand new vegetable which looks a little like a tiny cabbage with green frilly leaves and streaks of purple. They have great flavor and can be cooked in a variety of ways, with a taste fusion of sweet and nutty. ^[1]https://www.kalettes.com/about-kalettes.aspx

Kalettes can be sautéed, roasted, grilled or eaten raw.

What Are Kalettes?

Kalettes are the non-GMO product of 15 years of hard work and dedication (using traditional breeding techniques) from the British vegetable seed house Tozer Seeds. Developed through traditional hybridization and not genetic modification, Flower Sprouts as they are called in the U.K., made it’s way to the North America as Kalettes.

The inspiration behind Kalettes came from a desire to create a kale type vegetable which was versatile, easy to prepare and looked great. Crossing kale with brussels sprouts was a natural fit since they are both from the Brassica Oleracea species which also includes cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli.^[2]https://www.kalettes.com/about-kalettes.aspx

Growing Kalettes

Kalettes grow on stalks like Brussel sprouts.

A synthesis of the best from each “parent”, kalettes combine the beauty and zest of kale with the petite sweetness of the Brussel Sprout. Healthy crops grow into a beautiful, more colorful open rosette, more like a miniature kale than the typical mini cabbage look of Brussel sprouts. The open, flower-like florets are ready when approximately 2″ in diameter.

Where to Buy Kalette Seeds

• Early Season Harvest – Autumn Star Kalette Seed from Johnny’s Seeds – 110 days
• Mid season harvest – Mistletoe Kalettes from Amazon – 124 days

In 2016 we got our first kalette seeds from Amazon. We only got one packet to see how they’d do. They did okay but it was a very small harvest.

In 2017 we ordered from Johnny’s seeds, and they didn’t do as well. They froze easily, even under a cloche, when the rest of the cruciferous veggies did fine. So it seems these offspring of kale and Brussels aren’t as sturdy as their parents.

Kalette Recipe with Mushrooms and Peppers

This recipe looks delicious!! Until we can buy—or harvest—our own, we might try this recipe using a combination of kale and Brussel sprouts!

Just quarter small Brussel sprouts and chop curly or dragon kale in equal quantities for the 5 ounces equivalent called for in the recipe.

From the GardensAll Community

I’ve tried purple brussel sprouts here in California, direct seed can go in early to mid autumn, after that transplants work just as good… 4-4-2 pellets for fertilizer, and late night irrigations to keep aphids down.
~Gerardo Maldonado