LEAVES AND STEMS WE EAT 139 



on the stumps. This keeps the kale from being 

 trampled, and when the new shoots spring up in 

 March, it keeps them from turning green. For 

 three weeks or more the harvest of the sea-kale 

 is sent to city markets, where the long, fleshy and 

 perfectly blanched stalks supply a delicately 

 flavored vegetable, at a season when fresh vege- 

 tables are scarce. 



Copying the methods of the shore people of 

 Hampshire, gardeners grow sea-kale from seed 

 and from root cuttings, and year after year cover 

 the tops and cut the blanched leaves as they 

 reach proper size. The bitter of green mustard 

 leaves is dissipated by the bleaching, and the 

 broad leaf stalks, with just a hint of the blades 

 starting, are delicious when boiled until tender 

 and served as asparagus is. The flavor of hazel- 

 nuts is very marked. Americans who taste this 

 vegetable, properly cooked, wish to grow it at 

 home. The same culture as that given rhubarb 

 is right. It is easy of culture where rhubarb will 

 grow. The plants live several years. 



FENNEL 



A bitter-sweet aromatic odor and flavor are 

 strong in the fennel group of the umbrella- 

 flowered family, which includes parnsips and car- 



