How to Grow Napini Kale

I love kale. I could happily eat it at any time, cooked in any style. My family, however, isn’t quite so enthralled.

It has taken a bit of prodding and experimentation on my end, but I have finally found a few varieties that they can get excited about too.

Napini is a term for the tender flowering shoots of kale plants, typically harvested from Siberian kale varieties.

We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission.

They are so sweet and delicious, even my family of skeptics can get on board.

What Is Napini?

Napini, also known as kale rabe (and not to be confused with broccoli rabe), refers to the budding stems and leaves of the kale plant when they are harvested for use as a vegetable.

Harvesting kale for napini is done in the second year, once the plant starts to bolt, and before the flowers appear.

Kale is a cold hardy biennial. This means if it’s planted in late summer or fall, it will spend the first season developing strong roots and leaves.

After going dormant through the winter, growth will begin again in spring, and the plant will bolt – sending up flowering stalks, which eventually set seed prior to finishing its life cycle.

The flowering buds that shoot up during the spring of the second season can be harvested and enjoyed in much the same way as broccoli rabe or broccolini.

By leaving your plants in the ground, you’re getting a harvest of leaves in the first season, and a harvest of flower stalks when the plants bolt in the spring.

While any variety of kale, B. oleracea var. acephala, is edible at this bolting stage, the Russo-Siberian cultivars of B. napus var. pabularia, are specifically grown for napini, and they