North Star Polaris

Crop: Kale (Brassica napus)

Use/Type: Standard

Breeder: Andrew Still Adaptive Seeds and the Seed Ambassadors Project

OSSI Pledge Date: 1/27/2018

Release Date: 1/27/2018

Bred for Organic Systems: Yes

Commercial Availability: Yes

Variety Type: Finished Variety

Description

“The first release from our breeding work coming out of the Gulag Stars population. In keeping with the stars theme, we give you North Star Polaris. This participatory breeding project is inspired by the Culinary Breeding Network (CBN) and we are happy to have Lane Selman and Chef Tim Wastell help with selections. After separating out 15 single plant lines of Gulag Stars, we discovered this selection and were quickly impressed. Not the most frilly or the most colorful, we did however keep coming back to it with the thought, this kale is so perfect. Makes great bunches with a jagged silver-green Russian/ Siberian style. Ribs and veins are white – resembling the popular White Russian. Vigorous with a sweet flavor, the young leaves are also great for salad mix. A true dual-purpose kale. Winter hardy with lots of sweet leaves to harvest all winter long in Oregon. An explosion of growth occurs in the spring after overwintering and prior to bolting, filling the the hunger gap with tons of food. We are selecting this variety for uniformity, however it still shows a small amount of variation. Additional Information: Close to uniform as a variety with some slight leaf curl variation. Lead Plant Breeder: Andrew Still. Collaborators: Lane Selman, Tim Wastell and Sarah Kleeger. Original parent material, Gulag Stars Kale Population, originating from Tim Peters of Peters Seed and Research.”

Availability from OSSI Seed Company Partners