Are You Kale Experienced?

[digitS']

Many of you know that I like to promote, grow and eat greens ! Mostly, I'm into Asian greens (there's a whole new world out there )!

Those Asian greens that I often grow aren't so exotic if you realize that most are in the turnip family! Yep, as common as a turnip: bok choy, komatsuna, choy sum . . .

Okay, let's look at the cabbage we all know and find in every soopermarket. By the way: in Asia that family is represented by Guy Lon (Gai Lan or Kai Lan) and probably a number of other vegetables. Also in that cabbage family are collards and kale.

I've only grown collards once and it was very long ago. If I remember correctly, the climate here isn't quite suitable. I can grow at least 1 variety of Guy Lon (South Seas) under plastic during the spring. I'm trying it as a fall vegetable in the garden (the climate here may also not be very suitable to Guy Lon, I'll let you know .) Kale is in my garden just about every year.

I figure that there are lots of health benefits gained from eating these types of veggies and, maybe especially, kale! In this family, cabbage is worth growing, broccoli - most certainly but it has a fairly narrow season. I start kale and set it out very early in the spring - it goes on, literally, forever!

Well, I've talked enough about myself! Let's talk about you, what do you like about . . . . . . . . kale?

Steve

 

[jojo54]

I had never had kale until last week at a niece's who made kale chips. Yum! That's all ir took to convince me I need to plant kale next year.

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

i planted the stuff last year and it came back this year! it has gone to seed since but is still growing. my chickens and turkey see to love snatching chunks of it when they find it or i give them some. one of these days i will get up the nerve to actually try and eat it!

 

[Rhodie Ranch]

I just harvested and sauteed up some last nite.

I was sauteing some onions, threw in some clearance mushrooms (they were turning brown at the market, so were on sale for $1), and when they were half done, threw in 3 big chopped up leaves and some chopped up tomatoes. don't forget some S & P.

Put the whole thing on top of a piece of lamb. I ate all the veggies and half the lamb. Boy oh boy, was that good!

Also, since I have so much up in the garden, I also dry it for later use in soups.

Some of it reseeds for next year. But the healthier plants are the ones I plant from seed.

I also used quite a few chopped leaves in my dill pickles I made a couple of weeks ago. And put some in some marinated tomatoes along with the fresh basil.

It is sooooo healthy for us!

 

[digitS']

So many ideas!!

I've had chips . . . yes, I've heard that you can dry kale as a winter soup ingredient. Of course, there we have a zone 4 gardener who testifies that it can overwinter. It does here, just fine!

I know for a fact that geese can have the run of a garden and they head straight to the kale! (Don't let geese take a run at your garden, ever .)

In with the dill pickles!!! I thought that would be grape leaves . . . or something . . . but, then you eat the pickled kale?!?

Steve

 

[Ridgerunner]

Kale definitely overwinters here. I plant the Red Russian type, eat on it some in the fall, them mulch it pretty good when it starts to freeze. Kale can handle frost OK, but if I don't mulch it pretty good it can feeeze out when it gets below zero Fahrenheit. I plant some more in the spring so I have some when the overwintered stuff goes to seed. I handle Chard much the same way.

It is good in soups, omelets, and such, but my two main ways to cook kale is either just boil it until it is ready, drain and add mustard, vinegar, honey, salt and pepper. That's the quick and easy way. Pretty good too.

A slower way is to again boil it until it is ready, but in the meantime saute some onion and garlic. When the onion and garlic is about ready, add paprika. Then put the kale in and stir fry it. The kale usually clumps together when I boil and drain it, so I put one or two leaves at a time in the pan and stir it. This keeps it from being clumped up. I just cook it until it is fairly dry, add salt and pepper, and serve. This is for the more special meals.

One problem I have with kale in the summer is that it gets real buggy, especially with the cabbage moth worm. That's why I grow the Russian flat leaf type instead of the curly types. I can see the eggs, worms, and cocoons a lot better. What I wind up doing is cutting it back to the main stem and feed that to the chickens, them spray it with Sevin. The new leaves come out and I am able to get a mess or two without the worms just being all over it. I soon tire of this and just take it out so the cabbage moths don't have a host all summer.

 

[Rhodie Ranch]

Yes! I did put grape leaves at the bottom of every qt jar of my dill pickles. Might be an old wives tale about keeping them crisp, but it looks nice. And yes, I'll eat the pickled kale.

A few plants produces so much. I just snap off a few leaves at the bottom of the stalk when I want some.

 

[lesa]

I am a big fan of Swiss Chard- I always plant the rainbow variety. We eat it all summer long- and then I steam it for a few minutes, squeeze out the juice- and put it in the freezer. A handful goes into pasta, stir-fry, soup, etc. Also, love it in quiche...

 

[ninnymary]

Yes, Steve..you are a big lover of greens! I still remember you telling me "plant some more greens, Mary!" You have convinced me to try kale next year. What type should I get?

Lesa..I plant the rainbow swiss chard also but I keep getting leaf miner. How do I get rid of that?

I forgot..does kale have any problems I should look for? I don't seem to get the bugs/worms that some of you get. The only pests I get are leaf miner and something that makes lots of holes in my pole beans. Oh, and powdery mildew on my squash of course!

Mary

 

[Ridgerunner]

I also eat Chard all summer. For some reason, the cabbage moth pretty much leaves it alone.

The main kale problems I have are the cabbabe moths. Blister beetles usually hit them real hard one time, but if I spray with Sevin, that kills them dead. Aphids sometimes show up. If you have ants crawling in the plants, look for aphids. And of course grasshoppers, which is what I would expect is eating holes in your beans.