READER’S QUESTION

WHAT is sea kale? How do I grow it and is it edible?

Mrs M. Williams. SeA kale, Crambe maritima, is in the cabbage family Cruciferae but is not a brassica. A longlasting perennial, it grows wild on pebbly foreshores. You can see it growing in shingle on Dungeness, in Kent, and along parts of the Suffolk coast.

Prized by Victorians, the young leaf stems are tenderised by blanching. They are then gathered, much as you would rhubarb — though they’re much shorter and thinner. They taste like cabbage, but with a subtle bitterness.

I grow sea kale as an ornamental, mainly for the ruched, pale grey-green leaves.

In summer, stocky sprays of cream-white flowers appear, followed by clusters of bead-like seed cases. Full sun and fastdraining soil are essential.