It’s a Kale-ibration!
Kale-ibrate good times…COME ON!
It’s a Kale-ibration!
Kale is one of my absolute favorite foods to grow! It's so delicious, and it's one of the most beautiful plants in the kitchen garden. Kale leaves can be long and dark green, frilly purple, and everything in between! Kale is really easy to start from seed and has a really long harvest season - spring through late fall, and the leaves taste a bit sweeter after a frost!
Planning
Kale is super versatile! It can be grown in full sun or part shade (in as little as 4 hours of sun in the summer). Kale is very frost hardy, and doesn't bolt in the heat like lots of other greens. Plant different varieties (Lacinato, Dazzling Blue, Scarlet) to add color and textures to your garden and your plate! Fun fact, kale is a biennial which means it can grow for two years, if you leave kale somewhat protected in the winter it may come back the following year with a few more leaves and some edible flowers to harvest (kale raab). Nasturtiums and sweet alyssum make good companion plants, and may help with pest control.
Planting
Kale is so, so easy to start from seed! Start seeds indoors (March or April), directly in the garden (mid-March), or winter sow. If you have seedlings, they can be planted into the garden mid-April. Plant kale 12" apart, or closer if you only want smaller leaves. And consider planting another round of kale in August for more fall harvest.
Growing
Give your kale some love in the form of regular watering, and an occasional sprinkle of worm castings through out the season and it will keep on growing and producing leaves. Unfortunately there are a few pest that also love kale, cabbageworms and aphids are what I deal with most. If you start seeing big holes in the leaves and cute white moths fluttering around check the leaves for little green caterpillars and remove them. Aphids can become a big problem later in the season (August), blast them with a spray of water whenever you see them. If the aphids are really out of control, I will remove the entire plant and plant new ones.
Harvesting
Kale can be harvested a few weeks after planting, and if you want bigger leaves, just wait a bit longer! To harvest simply cut or twist off the bottom outer leaves and stems when they reach the right size. Make sure to remove any yellow leaves to keep the plant healthy.
Kale caesar is my ultimate favorite food. Especially when the homemade dressing has ingredients from the garden.
Ps. One of my favorite kale facts is that in 2012, Pizza Hut purchased almost 14,000 lbs of kale (probably the most of any company that year)…to decorate their salad bar.
