We bought our first seeds from the farmers’ store. We put the seeds in the well prepared nursery and they germinated pretty quickly. In two weeks we transplanted the seedlings to the designated area with holes already dug and humus put in and mixed with topsoil.
Because of the heavy rains at the time of transplanting, the seedlings settled in very fast and their growth was very promising and beautiful. In another two weeks, we started plucking the first leaves for eating. And this went on for a little longer before the crowns started forming.
One good thing about this vegetable is that neither worms nor ants disturbed it for some reason or other. We thought that it would suffer same effects like kale or collard greens because the leaves were more or less the same.
We ate the leaves and crowns and gave the cows the lower stems and roots at the time of clearing the area to await the next crop.
It was for home consumption only.
Just like the fennel, although we had no bad experience with it as far as worm attacks were concerned, we did not irrigate it because we feared vermin attacks in hotter conditions.