Id this herb please

[puzzlejunky]

I was given a few herb plants for mothers day. Thai basil, purple basil, another lemon balm...but I have no idea what this one is. He said it was on the shelf with the rest of the herbs but didnt have a tag. Is it possible it was shelved wrong? I don't know whether to plant it outdoors or how to care for it.. or even if it can be used for cooking. Help!

[GardeningCook]

Okay - that doesn't look like any herb I'm familiar with. It looks more like a vegetable plant - most likely a member of the brassica or hardy greens families - that has already bolted (aka gone to seed). I can see from your pic that it's from "Bonnie's Plants", & if you want to know definitely what it is, maybe contact them with your pic & ask. Here's a link to their website:
https://bonnieplants.com/

Unfortunately, apart from possibly saving ripe seed from it for next year, there really isn't anything else you can do with it at this point.

[puzzlejunky]

Thanks gardening cook! I think I'll send Bonnie plants an email. In the meantime I'll plant it outdoors in full sun.what makes you think it has gone to seed? I don't see any stalks with flowers or anything?

Thanks again! It must have been shelved wrong.

[GardeningCook]

Oh goodness - MY bad!!! Looking at the first pic, the plants in the background made it look to me like your mystery plant had a spray of greenish blooms atop of it!!! And I took the bottom pic to be an earlier pic before the plant "bloomed". Sorry about that, & this changes everything.

Plant is still a vegetable rather than an herb, & I suspect a brassica of some type. Definitely plant it out & see what happens (although I'd still ask Bonnie's what they think), & do keep us abreast of how it progresses. I'm interested in this mystery plant.

[imafan26]

What you have is curly kale. It is very popular now as a super food. Very high in calcium and vitamins.

Put it in the ground it is a primitive form of cabbage and will get 18 -24 inches tall and needs about a 24 inch circle of space.

I likes to have regular water

Use young leaves in salad, saute with olive oil, garlic and salt (shallots or onions would be optional) You can make kale chips and it is usually cooked in soup with smoked turkey wings or smoked ham hocks and beans. It has a strong cabbage taste and tastes sweeter in cold weather after it has had a dusting of snow. Most people puree it in a ninja blender with carrots, frozen fruits like banana, strawberries, grapes, cantauloupe, other berries, soy milk or milk, and ice and make smoothies.

The young leaves are harvested and the center rib is removed. It is too tough to eat even if you cook it a long time.

If you are on coumadin, a blood thinner, be warned that kale is high in vitamin K, like most of the green leafy vegetables and may change your clotting time. So either include it regularly in your diet because it is good for you and adjust your coumadin dosage or just have it sparingly.

Curly kale is probably the most popular but there are sweeter kales. Lacinato or toscano are the dino kales with large gray green savoyed leaves. Russian and Siberian kale have small frilly leaves and a longer stalk and are good in salads when young they are also sweeter than curly kale.

Here are few sites with some kale recipes. I have tried some of these, but there are a lot of other recipes around.

https://www.health.com/health/gallery/0, ... 70,00.html
https://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2013 ... ried-kale/
https://www.bhg.com/recipes/how-to/cooki ... cook-kale/
https://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-foo ... -benefits/

[puzzlejunky]

Thanks .. That's even better than an herb. None of us are on bloodthinners . I hope it's an attractive plant, because unfortunately we've run out of room in the back yard and have to place it out front.

Thanks again.

[imafan26]

Curly kale is probably the prettiest and probably why people eat it more than the sweeter kales.

You may have to use Bt on it as cabbage worms and cabbage butterflies will love it too unless it is netted.

[benali]

I vote Kale, too. I grow it, it looks just like this.