Growing kale

Does anyone else here grow kale? I tried it for the first time this spring. The plants are healthy but they only have a few stems and leaves each. Wondering what I can do to achieve the big, full, bushy plants promised on the seed package photo. Does it help to pinch out the middle, fertilize, or do I just have to wait? These were started in mid-April.

Any advice is very welcome.

I only use kale as a fall planting, It is not a hot weather plant. If you planted in April it should be full size by now. There are lots of varieties with different sizes and growth patterns. Most varieties, you treat as cut and come again. They like fertile soil as do all vegetables, but kale is not overly demanding. If anything else will grow kale is pretty trouble free.

We are cooler than Farmerdill in N. GA and grow kale Spring and Fall. Here it is interplanted with other greens in late May from a March sowing. Perhaps it's our cooler mountain nights but ours grows well and is tasty all summer. I plant again in September and we cut into late December. It slows down but provides some greens all winter and then starts up again in Spring when it finally goes to flower. At that point the Spring plants are humming along. We have the same routine with chard.

Don't pinch out the center! The way to harvest kale is to grab it up with one hand and cut above the heart of the plant. Wait until your kale is medium sized to cut so it is strong. That would be about half the size of a store bought leaf. As Farmerdill said, kale likes a fertile soil, especially nitrogen.

Thanks to you both. I have enough plants that I can harvest some and feed the others some extra nitrogen to keep them growing. We have had a cool spring and early summer so I expect to be able to let the kale grow for a while without damage or bolting (if kale even does bolt!)

I don't really have a sense of gardening weather outside the south. I'm thinking your kale is trying to gather up steam and would probably leave them unharvested for now. My greens do better when grown "ear to ear". As the space fills in between plants the ground moisture becomes even and the greens take off. I'll pull whole plants to thin if the space is looking tight but otherwise leave them to bond.

Kale will bolt but it takes a long time. I am in zone 5b and have successfully wintered over my kale and been able to harvest through the snow. Treat it as cut and come again...

We love kale for Tuscan soup (potatoes, Italian sausage, kale, and white beans - delicious and nutritious, too!)

Also recently had baked kale chips and they are delicious!

Enjoy!

I'm growing Kale for the first time this year myself. Curly Kale at the moment. I bought a pack of Dino Kale to start this month for fall planting. It's supposed to be milder they say. I find the curly Kale a bit bitter and hard to get used to the taste. Any tips for sweetening it up? I have basically sauteed it in extra virgin olive oil with some minced Garlic and sometimes sweet onions. Still, the bitterness comes through. It's not as bad if yo eat it raw. any tips appreciated!

I love blue curled Scotch kale. We grow it every year. I am growing Nero de Toscana this year from seed sent. We are also fans of Tuscan soup in the Fall but use kale in herbes z' greens, a greens gumbo, all summer.

Tommy, I'm not sure why your kale is tasting bitter. We're the ones with the heat and ours is never bitter. Maybe you are not as used to eating greens? Try putting them in the fridge for a week after picking to chill. Folks do this to sweeten summer collards. They say the greens convert their starches to sugar. If you are not satisfied then steam your kale and freeze it for winter soups and see if you enjoy a Fall crop better. My SO is from New England. It took him years to learn to appreciate sharp greens. This includes endive, radicchio, arugula, collards, kale, mustard and turnips.

tommyr2006
is your kale starting to bolt?
sometime they kale and other greens start to get bitter when they are bolting.

For a love tasty tender kale try Ragged Jack. Its really really old and really good

Ragged jack is, I think, red Russian. No older or more special than Scotch blue or other kales brought here in the 19 th C.

Baked kale chips sounds interesting...can you tell me how to make them? Thanks!

Cook Kale like you do collards for 'greens' - cottage ham, or smoked ham hocks, or neck bones or even a turkey leg - whatever is smoked. Sautee some onions in the bottom of a big stock pot. Add kale, smoked meat, and water to fully cover. Boil it low and slow. Many people put some balsamic vinegar (just a dash) to combat any remaining bitterness but to be honest, cooking it this way with the onions and smoked meat makes it absolutely delicious. Some like hot sauce on it - not me.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/baked-kale-chips/detail.aspx

Simple as can be!

Thanks so much!
This will be a big hit with my weight-loss group!

This message was edited Jun 29, 2011 10:24 PM

Thanks for the tips. I do like greens.

Actually quite a few of the different kales predate it. Ragged Jack wasn't introduced to Europe from Siberia til 1818 (atleast that's when it shows up in the literature) and thence to Canada til the late 19th cetury. Nero di Toscano (Lacinato) Predates it by atleast 100 years.

I only bring it up because I love it so. Its really my favorite in the garden and on the plate. Its so pretty, I just love its frillies and the different shadings of colours on its leaves. It holds up very well here in the heat and the freezing cold and doesn't bolt fast in the spring. I love the texture and flavour. I refer to its monicer "Ragged Jack" because there is a hybrid of it on the market that's also called Red Russian or Red Russian Improved and I wanted to distiguish between the two.

Tried some again tonight with a littler red wine vinegar and minced garlic. Blech. IF I could just get past the bitterness....

I grew kale entirely because I love the crispy-crunchy flavor of kale coated lightly with olive oil and a little salt, then baked. The dwarf curly-leaved blue kale I am growing now actually seems a tiny bit sweet. Definitely not bitter. I've been know to pluck off a leaf that looks like it's fading and just eat it, LOL.

I've been growing the "regular" kale for awhile now and I definitely think of it as a fall crop. The flavor takes some getting used to. Last summer I started out some Tuscano Italian kale from seed and it was beautiful, but the flavor was much too strong for me. I wanted to like it; I did make myself eat it until the very hard cold and deep snow finally wiped it out. But I'm going to go back to the milder varieties for this coming fall season.

Goldenberry do you you keep the veins in or remove them? I found it very delicate without the veins in the center. Also - fully mature greens or baby ones? I have both.

Thanks! I love this thread.

I think the key to loving greens is to give it a kick of texture that makes it silky. Olive oil, Italian turkey sausage either mild or hot, and 16 bean mix make a mighty protein meal that can be adjusted to include almost any vegetable you can imagine. Try it with rutabaga if you want a party in the mouth kind of flavor (if you like rutabaga).

:)

Saw a recipe for a banana smoothie made with kale. Sounds intriguing!

Janie, when I bought kale at the supermarket for baking, I tore it into pieces and I did remove the large veins. The dwarf blue Scottish kale doesn't look like it needs that pre-treatment.

There are several kale recipes at www.elanaspantry.com.

katie

I just saw this thread, so did not read much.
Thought you might like to know how we grow it here, for market.
Plants were started in the greenhouse. Planted on plastic mulch in May. Began picking in June. Pick off leaves as it grows. When they are small they are tender. We pick it all summer that way. Getting lots of people using Kale now. Wasn't even thought of up here until last few years. Everybody thought it was only for decoration on salad bars.
We put 5 ounces in a bag for a $1.00.
Bernie