Red Russian Kale Seeds
Red Russian Kale -- Heirloom
Brassica napus | 50–60 Days | Open-Pollinated
If you've ever written off kale as tough, bitter, or hard to love, Red Russian will change your mind.
This Siberian heirloom arrived in North America in the 1800s, carried by Russian traders into Canada, and it's been winning over gardeners ever since. The leaves are flat and deeply lobed — almost oak-shaped — with a slate-green color and striking purple veins running through each one. Raw, they're tender enough for salads. Cooked, they melt down beautifully into soups, braises, and stir-fries. And if you let frost touch them before you harvest? The cold converts the plant's starches to sugar, and the flavor becomes something genuinely special — sweet, mild, and deeply savory all at once.
At 2 feet tall, Red Russian is also one of the more visually interesting plants you can put in a kitchen garden. Some people grow it purely for the look of it. We won't judge.
It grows fast, handles cold better than almost any other garden vegetable, and produces continuously across a long season when harvested regularly. Baby leaves are ready in as little as 25 days. This is one of those varieties that earns its place in the garden every single year.
When to Plant Red Russian is a cool-season crop at heart, though it's surprisingly adaptable to heat as well. For a spring harvest, start seeds indoors 4–6 weeks before your last frost date, or direct sow outdoors once soil temperatures are consistently above 45°F. For fall harvest — which many gardeners prefer since the flavor is at its peak after cold nights — direct sow or transplant in midsummer, roughly 8–10 weeks before your first expected fall frost.
Starting Indoors Sow 2–3 seeds about ¼ inch deep per cell and keep soil temperatures between 65–85°F for best germination. Sprouts typically emerge within 5–10 days. Thin to the strongest seedling per cell once true leaves develop. Harden transplants off over 5–7 days before moving them to the garden, and plant them out 12–18 inches apart.
Direct Sowing Sow seeds ¼–½ inch deep, spacing them every 12–18 inches, or sow more densely and thin as you go — the thinnings are excellent as baby salad greens. For a continuous harvest of young leaves, succession sow every 2–3 weeks.
Soil & Sun Full sun produces the most vigorous growth, though Red Russian will tolerate partial shade better than most brassicas. It prefers fertile, well-draining soil with a pH between 6.0–7.5. Work in compost before planting to give it a strong start. Consistent moisture throughout the season keeps the leaves tender and mild — plants that dry out become tougher and more bitter.
Watering & Feeding Water regularly at the base of the plant, aiming for even soil moisture rather than feast-or-famine cycles. Kale is a moderate feeder — a balanced organic fertilizer at planting and a side dressing once the plants are established is usually all they need. Go easy on high-nitrogen inputs, which push leafy growth at the expense of flavor.
Pest Management Red Russian tends to fare better against common brassica pests than many other kale varieties. That said, keep an eye out for aphids, cabbage worms, and flea beetles — especially on young transplants. Row cover is the simplest defense early in the season, and a strong spray of water handles most aphid populations quickly. Crop rotation year to year goes a long way toward keeping soil-borne issues in check.
Harvesting Start harvesting outer leaves once the plant is well established, working your way in from the bottom and leaving the central growing tip intact so the plant keeps producing. Baby greens can be snipped as early as 25 days after sowing. For whole-plant harvest, cut an inch above soil level — you may even get a second flush of growth from the stump. Kale holds well on the plant well into winter, and flavor only improves as temperatures drop.
Saving Seeds Red Russian is a biennial, meaning it puts all its energy into leaves the first year and flowers the second. Let a few plants overwinter — mulch heavily in colder climates — and they'll bolt and flower come spring. Once seed pods have dried and turned tan, cut the stalks and let them finish drying indoors before threshing. Store seeds in a cool, dry place; expect good viability for 3–5 years.