5/15 By LISA MILLER

How often have we sat down in a restaurant to have our food served and to find it surrounded by green curly leaves? These garnishes that are usually pushed aside, believe it or not, are edible.
Kale, a member of the cabbage family, has many varieties.
All have leaves covered with a waxy coating. This coating often gives the leaf surface a gray-green or blue-green color.
Although most are tough and used primarily for decoration, there are varieties of kale such as the “Dwarf Siberian&Mac226;” produced by Cumberland County farmers, that is tender and an excellent source of vitamin C and minerals. This is the seed of choice.
One grower in particular, Malench Farms in Vineland, uses selective breeding every year to ensure a crop that consumers will want over and over again.
Brothers Mark and Chris, along with their father, Victor, take great pride in their annual process of producing quality seed. For example, a 4-acre field is planted in September and left to winter over.
In mid-April the kale is ready for harvest.
At this time, one row is selected to remain growing and is expected to turn to seed by July. At that time, the seed is harvested and set aside until September when the cycle is repeated again.
The plants selected must produce good color (anywhere from dark green to purple) and tender, curly leaves.
Malench Farms began harvesting their kale April 13.
According to Malench, cutting could have begun sooner but the demand was not there.
“The southern kale is coming up from Georgia and I’m cutting now because of the auction opening up. Hopefully they’ll want mine!”