Blog: New Kale Crowd Breeding Project

Hello!

My name is
Kat White

I'm a Food Studies MA student at the University of Exeter, and also work for the Sharpham Trust. I'm interning with Exeter Seed Bank to establish the first 'generation' of the mixed kale crop.

As a beginner to growing and seed saving, I'm really keen to learn about this climate-conscious way of building biodiversity into local food systems!

Holly Silvester from The Gaia Foundation have kindly given us a diverse mix of kale seed varieties, to develop a genetically diverse and resilient plant population, adapted to local soils and climate.

Each variety holds something unique; perhaps kale that is resistant to certain pests, can withstand high winds, cope with wet weather, or produce tasty leaves. Allowing different varieties to cross-pollinate over time allows these diverse and favourable characteristics to mix and produce new varieties. This kind of growing helps us produce food crops that are resilient in our changing climate.

At the University of Exeter Kitchen Garden growing site, with grower Neil, we experimented planting with a biological seed inoculate (goop') from the Soil Ecology Laboratory made by the Soil Smiths to give the seeds a natural boost.

We've also had help from the brilliant volunteers at the Sharpham Trust to plant kale and broad beans in the walled garden.

Growing in different sites before saving the seeds and mixing them all together again will give us the best chance of creating a variety that can thrive in different conditions. Hopefully we'll be able to plant them out soon! Stay tuned for further updates.