Yokatta na is the star and my favorite vegetable in my winter greens unheated hoop house in zone 5a. I plant long rows of it in early Oct and harvest some of its mild, deep green leaves all winter, always leaving most of the plant to continue growing. We use inner row covers of both cloth and plastic at night to keep the beds warmer through the winter, which allows the plants to grow slowly and continuously all winter. In March Yokatta na sends up flowering shoots with sweet edible stalks and small broccoli-raab-type heads providing a delightful harvest for well over a month. Like so many brassicas, this plant tastes best after frosts.

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I grew this two years ago. It has glossy dark green leaves with green stems, a nice turnip green flavor, and doesn't mind the summer heat. It had holes eaten in it by bugs, so this year I planted Spotted Beebalm (Monarda punctata) and Narrowleaf Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum tenuifolium) nearby to attract wasps, to hopefully eat the bugs if they attack this year's crop.

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