Self Seeded Kale

On the shoot on Saturday there was a section in the between two parts of the woods that had been sown with a cover crop. 

In amongst the weeds there were hundreds of kale plants standing about 4ft tall, I'm afraid my picture isn't very good but you can just about see a big kale plant on the end of the row. 

When I asked about this one of the guys who runs the shoot said they cleared this patch of land and sowed some kale five years ago, since then they've left these patches to their own devices. The plants have been growing, flowering and setting seed all by themselves, despite the heavy weed competition and how it's bound to have been predated on by bugs and birds. 

Pretty amazing I though. 

It just shows that if you can find a bare patch of land that's not going to be touched then a guerrilla type gardening style could help to feed you! 

What plants do you have that keep coming back year after year from self set seed?

Sowing Swedes

Or to Americans Rutabaga, which I think I almost prefer! 

There's not many things we can sow this late and get a good crop but I always sow my swedes in June to hopefully follow on from something else.

 The trouble with them is they come from that ultra high maintenance group - Brassicas. The footballers wives of the vegetable world. 

You can't do enough for them! They need plenty of well rotted manure, careful sowing away from pests, slug protection, netting from birds, netting from cabbage white butterfly, collars to stop the root fly, the list goes on. 

Cabbages and purple sprouting in the ground

Your winter plot looks pretty bare without brassicas though! And I do love the humble old swede. Mashed with butter on the side of your roast or mixed in with your stew after you've been working outside in the cold all day it takes some beating! The girls seem to love it as well so I'm planning on putting plenty in this year. 

Does everyone else have this love hate relationship with all the brassicas (not just swedes?)?