 Sunday, August 12
All hail the kale
Fall bloomer keeps on giving
In the winter garden, kale is unrivaled. There may be other equally hardy greens like mache (Valerianella locusta) and minutina (Plantago coronopus), but they are shrinking violets in comparison. Commonly added to fall borders and beds, kale’s luminous shades of pink and purple (in addition to its more traditional green and blue-green varieties) light up landscapes.
Far more than just a pretty face, kale is also packed with vitamins and minerals. One cup of boiled or steamed kale has only 37 calories but contains over 1,300 percent of the recommended daily value of vitamin K, 192 percent of vitamin A, 88 percent of vitamin C and 13 percent of manganese. It is also a very good source of fiber, calcium, B-6 and potassium. And once you figure in its tolerance for cold weather (it becomes sweeter after autumn frosts and, given a blanket of snow before a hard freeze, it is possible to continue the harvest well into winter), you can see why kale is a truly outstanding garden plant.
Kales tend to be vigorous sprouters and rival radishes for the speed at which they spring from the ground. If you’re thinking of a crop this year from seed, though, you’ll have to hurry. For the best results, most gardeners sow seeds indoors in flats in early summer and then transplant the seedlings outdoors in mid- to late summer. You can direct sow seeds outdoors, however, from July to early August. You may also be able to find young plants at local garden centers this time of year.
In the kitchen
- Tender, young kale leaves can simply be tossed into fresh, green salads. Sauté kale with fresh garlic and sprinkle with lemon juice and olive oil before serving.
- Braise chopped kale and apples. Before serving, sprinkle with balsamic vinegar and chopped walnuts.
- Combine chopped kale, pine nuts and feta cheese with whole grain pasta drizzled and with olive oil.
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Best performances
Like most other brassicas (turnips, kohlrabi, cabbage, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, etc.), kale performs best in a neutral to slightly alkaline, moist, well-drained soil. Providing ample nitrogen early in the plant’s life will promote rapid, large growth. But to encourage maximum cold hardiness, it shouldn’t be added during later stages.
Since all salad kales are large plants, space them at least 18 inches apart. Keep seedlings evenly moist, thin them in about six weeks and keep the area weed-free. Club root is a common disease in these vegetables, so don’t plant them where you’ve grown other brassicas in the last year or so. Probably the biggest challenge in growing kale is pest control. Summer plantings for fall harvest tend to have the lowest pest pressure; rabbits usually have enough other foods to keep them occupied, and by the time you’re ready to harvest your kale after frost, cabbage loopers and other heavy feeders are no longer a problem.
When to harvest
As the young plants are growing, the lower leaves can be harvested without any damage. Smaller leaves will be the most tender. Once kale reaches full maturity, the upper leaves are probably preferable to the lower. You can cut the entire plant down, but once the center growing point is removed, it won’t sprout again.
Kale’s leaves become much sweeter after experiencing a good frost. That’s because the plants pump sugar into the water inside their leaves in order to lower the temperature at which freezing begins. That’s why a fall/winter crop of kale tastes better than a spring sowing.
For our area, I would suggest trying one or more of the following varieties of kale for the table: ‘Dwarf Blue Curled Scotch’ (70 days to harvest); ‘Dwarf Curled Vates’ (60 days); or ‘Dwarf Siberian’ (65 days). Another variety that is worth a try is ‘Dinosaur’ kale (also known as ‘Lacinato’ kale). It features dark blue-green leaves that have an embossed texture. It has a slightly sweeter and more delicate taste than curly kale. It needs to be transplanted in the spring, though, to reach its majestic two- to three-foot size. Ornamental varieties are usually sold in open-pollinated, mixed-color seed packets although you can sometimes find hybrids like ‘Frizzy,” Nagoya’ and ‘Peacock.’
Did you know?
There is one safety concern to mention: Kale is among a small number of foods that contain measurable amounts of oxalates, naturally occurring substances found in plants, animals and human beings. When oxalates become too concentrated in body fluids, they can crystallize and cause health problems. People with existing and untreated kidney or gallbladder problems may want to avoid eating kale.
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 After completing culinary arts training at Joliet Junior College and working as executive chef at the Heartland Health Spa in Gilman, Alex Panozzo returned to his agricultural roots on the family farm in Limestone. He has been involved with the local Master Gardener program for a number of years and is active in our area’s agri-tourism industry.
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