Kale

[seedcorn]

ok, have some room so I'm issuing a challenge to you Kale lovers. Unless it's too late to plant Kale, what variety has a good flavor and isn't the consistency of cardboard. You all come to an agreement on variety and I'll try to locate it and try it. One chance.

 

[digitS']

As a small kid, I began eating kale and wasn't given a choice about it. Sautèd baby beets, prepared as leaves and roots, became a favorite probably as a defense against too many servings of Scotch kale. Kale was at the health food store where my mother shopped. Since it keeps well in the garden and holds up to storage and shipping, there wasn't any season when we could escape it. It was with a certain amount of reluctance that I began growing it on my own.

Russian kale is a separate species from Scotch kale. This kale is often available as a red leaf variety but isn't necessarily red. It is a Brassica napus rather than a Brassica oleracea. You may like it better.

Be forewarned, if aphids are a problem for you, they seem to like it better than Scotch kale. The crinkled leaves of Scotch kale may afford aphids good places to hide but be assured that they are willing to risk exposure to enjoy a diet of Russian kale.

Steve

 

[Carol Dee]

I actually do not know the name of the kale my family likes. DO NOT plant dinosaur kale! It gets big and tough! ugh. I will try to find the name of the kale that we actually like and post it later.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'd recommend you try Blue Curled Scotch Kale. That's the tenderest and tastiest I've tried. The very small leaves of that is probably what you see on salads at restaurants, not the Russian Kale. As you would expect the small leaves are the tenderest.

While kale can grow most of the warmer months of the year it's best as a cool weather crop. It can withstand light frosts and probably tastes better after a light frost. In the heat it can get strong flavored, it's not when it is at its best. I would not try planting it this late, it's going to be too hot by the time it's ready.

My insect problem with it is not aphids, but the same caterpillers that attack cabbage love kale. I don't know how bad those are where you are, but once it gets hot and those things hit I quit growing it. I'd have to keep them drenched in BT to keep the worms at bay.

When I boil it to tenderize it, I start tasting it before it's ready to determine how tender it is. Until it reaches a certain point it's tougher than I want to eat, but it can quickly go mushy. I try to catch it at the right point while it still has some texture but can easily be chewed. The younger the leaves the less time that takes. Like I mentioned in another thread, I don't eat seafood in Kansas and I don't eat beef on the Gulf Coast. You need to know how to cook something for it to be at its best. I don't order kale at either place, for my tastes they never cook it enough, it's too tough to chew.

 

[seedcorn]

It is suppose to be a cool, wet year here. So I may try some as soon as I can dock the boat off of my garden. Then re-sow this fall.

So once a variety is chosen, seed is up, I'll need the best way to fix it.

 

[thistlebloom]

I eat it raw in salads or smoothies. I grew a purple leafed one last year that I bought as starts and it wasn't tough. ( I don't recall the name) I actually got it for the purpose of using in a container as an ornamental annual. I planted it at home and liked the effect, so this year it's going in a clients deck pots.
I have a new one that I haven't planted yet, it's Beira Tronchuda.

Here's Territorials description of it:
Beira Tronchuda Kale

85 days. Originating in Portugal, this bright green, loose-headed variety is a rare gem. Also called Portuguese kale, this Tronchuda-type has wide spreading leaves that are exceptionally sweet and tender with thick, white, fleshy ribs—reminiscent of collards or even Swiss chard. Beira is remarkably tolerant to both cold and heat, and its unrivaled taste and appearance will continue to intrigue throughout the season.

 

[ninnymary]

I like the curled leaf kale. It seems to be more tender. This year I planted a blue leaf kale. It's not really blue but it's tougher so I give it to the chickens.

I usually use kale in spaghetti (gotta sneak in a veggie for the kiddos) or soups. At that point it's soft and can't really taste it.

Mary

 

[lcertuche]

The only kale I ever grew was an ornamental kale in the fall. It was tasty. Now that I think about it, it might have been an ornamental cabbage. It was a like a loose heading type. Looked pretty even after frost. I like the kind in the grocery store, although it can be a little tough. I like to wilt it in the skillet with garlic, a little oil or bacon grease and a little dijon mustard, sriracha sauce and a good balsamic vinegar. My family all like it fixed this way. I eat most my greens wilted: beet greens, chard, some leaf lettuces, spinach. Turnip and collards must be boiled with some kind of smoked pork. I would like to grow kale though because it has become my favorite green.

 

[majorcatfish]

all kidding aside the three varieties that we have grown have been very tender as long as you DO NOT let them get to mature, if you do they become less flavorful. keep picking them down...

purchased ours from johnnys seeds...

nash green...
http://www.johnnyseeds.com/vegetabl...rganic-kale-seed-3644G.html?cgid=kale#start=1
had a hard time direct seeding them. best to start them indoors.. wonderful flavor

scarlet...
http://www.johnnyseeds.com/vegetables/kale/scarlet-kale-seed-3172.html?cgid=kale#start=1
small, slow to grow and only a couple good pickings.
a little bitter than the others of course you have to careful when cooking them otherwise they lose the purple in them<light simmer then a ice bath to retain the color and added to dish at the last moment...

red Russian....
http://www.johnnyseeds.com/vegetables/kale/red-russian-kale-seed-363.html?cgid=kale#start=1
personally it has one of the best tastes.
easy to start, grows like a weed...

lowes sells Russian red and white in packets

for us we will strip the leaf off the stem<the tough part> thats where people get the chewy dislike about kale..otherwise kale is a very wonderful addition to soups,stews,quiche, suaces,crock pot ... well just about any style of cooking,it just needs to cook down a bit longer. you just need to learn how to cook it, homegrown kale is not bad even in salad as long as it's young.....


yes with summer coming it might be hard to grow would recommend starting indoors and placing some shade cloth over them from the summer heat., if not start some mid august indoors as a late season crop, heck ours survived a couple good snow storms and below 20's here. while there is time take a trip to a framers market and see if anyone has it.

you need to sit down and really google kale dishes....

We Are the Borg. You Will be Assimilated. Resistance is Futile you will eat kale......and enjoy it.
otherwise we will tell aunt ester.....

 

[digitS']

Enjoying Siberian kale and ..

. broccoli raab from the hoophouse the last few days.

The bok choy left in there wants to bolt. That's okay. After all, the broccoli raab is supposed to bolt.

Steve