Does anyone grow Kale?

[DustyKat]

Sarah was asking about kale tonight and wanted to know if we would grow some.

Her great grandfather grew loads of kale but purely as an ornamental garden plant! :lol: He is no longer with us and I am hoping that her grandfather still remembers a bit about it.

Does anyone have any pointers about growing and/or cooking it?

Thanks!
Dusty. xxx

 

[Catherine]

we grew kale last winter from seed brought from diggers, I have second year plants with some nice leaves. Can't help with cooking instrcutions as we don't like it but the rabbit loves it. Ours had no special care.

 

[hugh]

i love kale in juice. when i cook stir frys i usually use about 1/3 kale and 2/3 spinach.
i believe it is easy to grow but the bowerbirds and rabbits keep eating ours

 

[rygon]

Never grown it but I know its a winter veg http://gardening.about.com/od/vegetablevarieties/p/Kale.htm

The normal variety is curly Kale, it can be eaten raw but for cooking I normally add a little bit of water to a pan (1cm depth of so), shove the Kale in, put on a pan lid and cook for about 4mins (until it starts wilting).

A few recipes here http://www.rivercottage.net/recipes/search/kale//p:1/

 

[Twiggy930]

It grows really well here in the spring and fall. It definitely likes cool weather, the hot weather makes it bolt.

I love it steamed and then tossed with salt, pepper, butter and lemon juice. Yummy.

 

[ThanksP]

I juice it everyday. My nephew who has Burkitt's Lymphoma also juices it everyday due to it's excellent cancer fighting qualities. I've steamed it a few times but didn't really care for it without putting tons of butter and spices on it.

 

[happy]

Hi DustyKat,
I can't eat it right now, but this is what I did when I could. I have never grown it.

Wash the kale and shake off the excess water. Cut out the centre hard rib of each leaf. Discard the ribs. Chop the leaves loosely in big chunks (3 inch pieces). Place in a large non-stick saute pan on medium-high heat. When you can hear it start to steam, cover the pan and turn the heat to low until the leaves are just wilted. Add a spritz of fresh lemon juice when done. Then enjoy. You can also add garlic and olive oil if you like.

 

[Trysha]

There was a recipe on this site for roasting the leafy part.
Apparently it is quite delicious but I have never tried it yet.
Just looked on google and there are all kinds of recipes for roasting it

 

[David]

Stick the seeds in the ground, water them, fertilize them, stand back, and watch them grow Pick the little bastard caterpillars off that will inevitably find their way to them.

Kale prefers cooler weather but some varieties will tolerate warmer weather. I grow ethiopian kale since I'm in a warmer climate. I add them daily to our smoothies, steam them, saute them, and dehydrate them. Kale is extremely nutritious and quite easy to grow.

 

[DustyKat]

Thanks for all the advice guys, very much appreciated.

Luckily we are in a cool climate zone so it should grow well here. Sarah will be pleased! :lol:

Dusty. :hippy:

 

[Tesscorm]

My mom makes a fantastic kale soup (Portuguese recipe). In Portuguese, it's called Calde Verde (translates into Green Soup). Some recipes call for sausage but you can omit sausage. Recipes are available online but, if you don't find one you like, let me know and I'll get my mom's. It really, really is great!

Also, she makes basically the same soup but uses carrots in place of the kale - use approx. 1.5 carrots for each potato...

 

[puddle_of_worms]

Kale chips,
Rip up the leaves, coat them in a little salad dressing, throw the leaves onto a cookie sheet, sprinkle some nutritional yeast over top, then bake for 45 minutes at 250, or the lowest oven temperature. They come out of the oven crisp and crunchy