question about overgrown kale and other greens

My friends recently bought a house which has a small, overgrown vegetable plot in the backyard. There are some overgrown greens there which I think are kale and maybe turnip. I think they should still be able to make a good harvest but none of us knows how to treat them. The kale plants (assuming they are kale: long dark-green leaves with curly edges with purple stalks). The plants are about 3 feet tall with long, thick stalks with leaves only on the top. Could they be cut back? If so, how far? Should they just keep harvesting the top growth? Would the larger, older leaves be good to eat or too tough and bitter? If not good to eat, should they be removed or left on the plant? Any advice will be greatly appreciated!

barbobbi - I've grown collards this fall which are in the same family as kale. I only harvest the medium sized leaves, the larger ones are kinda bitter. Some of the bigger leaves I take off, but I leave some for photosynthesis. Not sure if this is the correct thing to do, but I've harvested lots of leaves so far. The plants seem to be heavy feeders. You should be able to harvest leaves through the winter, I don't think frost hurts them too much.

Turnips leaves can be eaten just like kale leaves. If the turnips themselves get too big, they are really bitter.

I'm sure someone with much more experience growing greens will come along with help.

Yeah we need some pictures of these plants over here.

Take the big leaves and cut out the stem that runs through the middle. The leafy part should be tender. If you've had a couple of good frosts on them they shouldn't be bitter. If they are add a little honey or sugar while cooking. If you haven't had a frost, put them in a paper bad and set in the freezer for a few minutes. Don't let them freeze, just let ice crystals begin to form. This is an old trick we in the deep south use on collards before we get a frost. It releases an enzyme that makes them sweet. Personally, I like greens when they have a bitter whang but my wife doesn't. She's the cook so I eat a lot of sweet greens.

Thanks, everyone! Hi, HoneybeeNC--especially nice to hear from you as I am also a tarheel, though long transplanted! I have grown kale before but mine never had the chance to get so overgrown. I'll try to get some photos up today--I thought I had some but they didn't turn out--not a great expert with the camera here, sadly. Thanks for all the advice, I plan to try the freezer method--there's nothing like fresh greens!

barbobbi, yes, pics would help determine what you have.

However, if it is kale you can cut the leaves back and new leaves should grow from the center of the plant depending on how cold your weather is. If it gets too cold in your area the plant will either die, slow down growth or just appear to be dormant. BUT, to tell ya the truth, I've never seen kale plants grow 3 ft tall so I'm wondering just what you really have there.

Same is true for turnips. Keep in mind some turnips produce an edible root while others only produce greens. You might want to pull up a plant or two and see if you have some turnip root ready to eat yet! Yummy!

As for being tough and/or bitter, just take a bite, raw. You'll be the judge on that call!

Happy Day to All!
Shoe

Jim you been holding out on me! Never knew about that freezer trick. I HATE sweet greens! Here's a pic of the mustards n collards I pick n eat. I too cut the tough center stem and cook the leaves overnight in a slow cooker on high with ham hocks or turkey necks. Add a large chopped bell peppers, a large chopped onion on top. Mix 1 Tblsp. Season All, 1/2 tsp black pepper in a cup of water n pour over top. Do not stir. Cover pot n go 2 bed!

Sounds good to me Gymgirl. I about half cut-worm. If its green I like it. The freezer trick works with collards before a frost. I just figured it was worth trying on the kale. I really like a bitter whang to the greens but I seldom do the cooking. I also like bacon drippings in the greens. Don't get that much either, to many blocked arteries and by-pass surgeries.

You ever raised any Chinese Cabbage? Talked to a guy at our Fall Festival tonight that started cabbage and Chinese cabbage at the same time. The cabbage is just starting to head and he is already eating the Chinese cabbage. Thought I might try some this spring. He said the flavor was a little milder than regular cabbage and really good.

Jim, you should definitely try some Chinese cabbages. They really grow much faster than standard head cabbage and can be planted closer together.

Here is a pic of a Bok Choy variety, picked only 41 days after transplanting. It's delicious!

Shoe

Thanks Shoe. I am going to try several new things this spring. I built two additional twenty feet beds the last of summer. I'll have a lot of extra room now to experiment.

I am enjoying your comments on kale. This year I grew several plants of Lacino Italian heritage Kale and now have the 3 foot plants as members have mentioned. A question for those garden cooks. I like potatoe-sausage - kale soup and would like to have kale to use later in the winter. Can kale be frozen for later use?

I'm not a cook but it can definitly be frozen. Put in a pot with just a little boiling water and cook until it is wilted down and freeze.

Jim:
Thank you! I will definately try it so that I have some kale for later in the winter.
Len

Your welcome, Len. Down here we can grow kale, cabbage, turnips, mustard all winter. Only time it gets killed is if the cabbage have mature heads or turnips have big roots. A hard freeze will kill them then. I have nine Savoy cabbage that are heading now and hope they will get big enough to eat or freeze before before we get any extreme cold. Usually it is last of January or first of February before we get that kind of cold spell. I am hoping that will be the case this year.

Jim41,
Hey there! I have two raised beds filled with 1/2 of something called "Rose mix for veggie beds" (ordered from Living Earth here in Houston), 1/2 aged horse manure, and topped off with 6" of my own homemade organic compost. My beds have sat filled for the past two months, since pressing activities in my home didn't allow for much gardening. We have stray cats in our yard, so I've had these beds covered with a thick layer of cardboard boxes, to deter "Kitty Litter" use.

I already knew my homemade compost attracted pillbugs and snails (they LOVE decomp), and I'm certain my two beds are fairly teeming with pillbugs and other small insects that love the decomp. I planned on sowing my seeds for turnips, carrots, lettuce, beets, and onions tomorrow. Any advice on how I should proceed to get the pillbugs and slugs on the run before my seedlings start coming up? I have a roll of hardware cloth that I will tack on top of the raised boxes, so the cats can only walk on top of them, and gaze longingly at my wonderful loose soil below them.

P.S. I have discovered Sluggo Plus, which comes highly recommended to kill the pillbugs and slugs. I need to know if I should mix it into the top layer of soil before I sow my seeds, or plant them first then just sprinkly the Sluggo Plus on top of the beds.

Thanks in advance!

Linda ^^_^^_^^_^^_^^

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This message was edited Nov 13, 2009 12:32 PM

I have never used Sluggo, but if it is like all the other, you just sprinkle it on top of the bed. I haven't been able to find sluggo locally. Might order some from ebay. I know you have always used containers, but you will love the raised bed. I think there will be a lot you can do with it that is impossible with containers. Just guessing because I have never used containers. Just remember to make everything grow up.

Jim I'm going 2 use a "block planting" method 2 push the envelope and get as much yield as possible out of the 72 sq. ft. of space in the 2 veggie beds. I'd like 2 sow seeds 4 turnips, beets, carrots, lettuce, spinach, cauliflower, onions, and broccoli. I saw video by the Cajun Gardener on sowing onion seeds really close then thinning them for transplanting. I also have 2 strategically place them and leave some space 2 winter sow veggie seeds 4 de spring! Any suggestions would be welcome. Linda. P.S. The new colander eBucket design I'm using is causing the cabbage n broccoli seedlings to take off!

I never have gardened like that but it sounds interesting. I just always cage everything I can and make it grow up. Tomatoes, cucumbers, squash all cage good. I am going to use smaller commercial cages for peppers and egg plant this year. Mine fell over so bad they didn't do to good. First time actually that I had that problem. Two of my beds are 40 ft. long. I run concrete reinforcement wire down the west side of each bed and plant green beans on one and running butterbeans down the other. They also take the hot evening sun off anything I plant the other side.

Have you ever planted Chinese cabbage? Forty-two days and they are ready to eat. A friend gave me one the other day and it was fair. It was a little to mild for my taste but ok. I would like to try it in coleslaw.

The Kale that was mentioned at the beggining of this this thread sounds like the Scots kale that I have. I grew it from a packet of heritage seeds 10 years ago.
It comes up every year and is delicious. I cook the stalks too. I take all the curly leaves off, cut up the stalks into 1&1/2 inch strips and drop them in a pan of boiling salted water. Then 5 mins later I add the leaves. Delicious!
I have a problem this year with cabbages (Never had problems before)
Growing 2 varieties, one is Savoy and the other probably Earlyball.
These cabbages have the biggest leaves I have ever seen (I reckon they can be seen from space LOL)
The have just grown and grown but no hearts. What can I do?
Has any one any idea?
I thought maybe if I tied all the leaves together on each plant, like one does with cauliflowers??????

I don't think that tying up the leaves will make a difference. Never had any trouble with them heading. I did plant some purple cabbage late and they are slow to head. Maybe thats it. Luck to your cabbage growing.

I was wondering why my collards weren't getting real tall like my Dad's always did. An older lady stopped by for a visit and said they were called cabbage collards. They are twirllinging in the middle and developing a head. Didn't know that there was such a varmint in existence.