Grow Super Salad Greens by Nancy Bubel

Author:Nancy Bubel
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Storey Publishing, LLC
Published: 1981-03-25T16:00:00+00:00

Kale

This super vegetable earns its place in any garden because it is very high in vitamin content, low in calories, winter-hardy, and almost pest-free. Kale is another member of the large and varied cabbage family, the brassicas. It has deeply ruffled, sturdy leaves on a stem that reaches a height of eighteen to twenty-four inches. There is a spring-growing kale — the variety Hanover — but since the flavor is greatly improved by frost, most gardeners raise kale as a fall crop.

Planting. For fall kale, plant seeds in the row or in flats for transplanting, in May or early June. If you do not have space in the garden then to sow seeds, keep the seedlings growing in flats until you have an empty row or can find space for them between other plants. Space the plants about eighteen inches apart.

Care. Since kale spends a good many months in the garden, a good layer of mulch will help to reduce your seeding chores and to maintain soil moisture as well. Kale has fairly shallow roots for such a hardy vegetable. Since it produces over such a long period of time, many gardeners like to give their kale an extra feeding in early fall. Insect pests are rare, except for aphids, which sometimes attack the weaker plants. Try hosing them off with a strong spray of water.

Harvest. For most people, kale harvest begins right after the first frost, and continues all winter when the kale is well mulched and/or protected by a blanket of snow. Pluck individual leaves, counting on one or two per serving. Kale does not mush down and lose volume when cooked as many other greens do. Wintered-over plants often produce a new crop of tender, young leaves in spring before going to seed.

Eating. Young leaves are tender enough to chop into salad. Most kale is eaten as a cooked vegetable — steamed or braised for a vegetable side dish or cut into soups. Try snipping a few raw kale leaves into your favorite meat and rice casserole, too, before putting it in the oven to bake.

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