Nearly everyone has come to love kale, the sweet, super-nutritious king of leafy greens. And what's not to love? Sown in early March and transplanted in mid-April, you can begin harvesting delicate frilly leaves in late May. Sow again in late June or early July for a fall crop, which will provide leaves that turn ambrosial when sauteed with garlic and doused lightly with apple cider vinegar, salt, and pepper.

Kale likes to be transplanted--even the summer sowing--and it wastes less garden space to do so. It also gives the seedlings a head start against the flea beetles, which will happily munch on kale seedlings if eggplants and mustards are unavailable. Give the plants highly fertile soil and a spacing of twelve to eighteen inches depending on variety.