The other thread is right below this one. You just need to refresh your page.

Dave

Really? Can you see the post? i just get a 'Whoops' message.

Mauirose, I can't see the first post, either. Get the "missing file" message.
I've not grown kale before, but after attending the Va. Assoc. of Biological Farmers meeting last year, I'm inspired. One of the speakers suggested "Winterbor", so that's what I will try. I believe that you are correct in that cold weather does sweeten kale, much like parsnips.

Kale is very easy to grow, altho I have not tried some of the exotics that you mentioned. Its biggest asset is that it takes more cold that most greens.You can pick kale when everything else has retired for the winter. It is even more hardy than collards. Not my favorite, so I only eat when every thing else is gone.
This is Siberian, not a true kale but the most hardy version I have grown. In the same species as Red Russian {{gwi:11200}}
This Blue Armor, a good example of the "curly" type kales. Blue Curled Scotch, Blue Ridge are in the same class. A bit more tender than the smooth leaf kales. {{gwi:11203}}

I have let kale grow all summer until it gets huge, cut the leaves off the plant in late fall and washed them, chopped them up and froze them in 1/2 lb bags. There was no bitterness or harshness and it was delicious after thawed.

Not entirely necessary in my climate, but I didn't feel like digging it out of the snow in the winter ;)

Give it a shot!
Jill

Hi Mauirose

I grew red russian kale and other varieties as well, being the red my favorite. But when it comes to versality and tasteI like swiss chard better.

Red russian kale and turnip greens.

{{gwi:11205}}

Silvia

I grow Red Russian and White Russian, and have grown Dinosaur kale in the past.

I have had trouble with various kinds of cabbage moths. I've found that spraying with BT works very well at controlling them. Occasional moth problems is why I like the Russian kales. The leaves are flat, not rumpled or curly, so it is very easy to check for caterpillars and very easy to hand-pick them when you find them.

Johnny's says "except Red Russian" in reference to the scientific name of the plant. Most kales are brassica oleracea, but Red Russian (and similar kinds) are brassica napus. But the growing instructions are the same for both kinds.

I have grown kale up here in the pacific northwest for the past three years. I started with the Frank Morton Kale Mix seed packet. I let a few go to seed and they seem to naturalize themselves and pop up the following year. The slugs try to attack it in late fall, otherwise, it's pest free and survives the snow we get. My kales haven't tasted bitter...they do taste sweeter with a frost.

Oh, is there kale in that picture of the Miniature Schnauzer? What wonderful dogs they are.

Kale is an excellent vegetable soup ingredient, essential to Portuguese kale soup and minestrone. Lacinato, of course, is most authentic for minestrone but other kinds are fine.

Jim

OK, i am learning more! Thanks, everyone, for your responses so far. The pictures are terrific. Kale that size must need to be cooked before eating? With a few exceptions i am not usually such a fan of cooked greens but maybe you have some recipes that will convert me?

Here is a simple recipe for Massaged Kale Salad:

2 handfulls Lacinato Kale
1 handful cilantro
Toasted sesame seeds
Drizzle of equal parts olive oil and umeboshi vinegar
squeeze of lime
2 to 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast

Wash kale and remove midrib. Slice into ribbons. Wash and chop cilantro. Combine all ingredients and massage kale until it starts to look a little bit like it is cooked. Serve.

OK, true confessions...i haven't acutally tried this but my friend swears it is delicious. The nutritional yeast is kind of freaking me out. i am working my way towards it ; )

Portuguese Kale Soup

I love kale. I especially love it with scrambled eggs, with maybe some scallions also, yummy.

Here is a picture of scrambled eggs with kale. Not sure exactly what else I put in there, but it looks like there are some garlic scapes in there and probably scallions, and it looks like I put some leftover rice from the day before in there also. One thing I do remember is it was very good.

{{gwi:11207}}

I have also cooked kale with potatoes and added it to stir fries, but to me the best thing is kale and eggs. Now I really wish my kale was still alive:(

Last year I grew Red Russian Kale. It lasted all through the summer till we got snow and freezing temps for over a week. If you keep picking it that should help to prevent it from going to flower. I picked mine at least once a week. Of course once it gets a certain size it is best after being cooked. I am not sure if it would taste ok for salads after a frost, I haven't tried that myself.

I did not have many problems as far as bugs went. I got them started early under row cover and by the time the flea beetles were at there best the plants were fairly large I think that is what kept them from getting destroyed by the beetles like so many of the other greens I grew last year. Like someone else said I did every now and then get some slugs, but each slug seemed to stick to just one or two plants. When I realized that there was a slug I would search that plant at night for the guilty one, and do away with it.

{{gwi:11209}}
Red Russian Kale and behind it is Collards
This picture was taken late summer, early fall.

Jimster beat me to it. I was going to say that kale is fabulous in hearty winter soups. Kale, some white beans, and maybe some sausage or bacon if you are so inclined. It's also great in an Italian-inspired soup with red beans, tomatoes, parsley, celery, carrot and the pre-fab dried cheese-filled tortellini. Just a fantastic, versatile, nutritious veggie.

i guess i am growing a lot of greens this year. i just planted some Trochundo Cabbage which i think is the plant i know as Portuguese Cabbage but which i just noticed may also be known as Portuguese...Kale.

Jimster the soup recipe looks good. And if kale has an affinity for eggs then maybe a frittata or a quiche might work? Sounds like a good partner for tortellini, too.

My red russian overwinters except in the most severe years, and always self-seeds prolifically, with plants sprouting fall and spring.

It is perfectly adapted to this cool oceanic climate, but gets clobbered by the ICM. Such that it's best eating season is the re-sprouts from the overwintered plants. They start growing vigorously in mid-april and the caterpillars don't get bad until sometime in July. So the spring-germinated plants are most useful for the following spring when they are quite large.

That's how it rolls here in cabbage-moth land. I'm sick-and-tired of bt and not going to bother with it ever again, or any kind of insecticide. Things have to get in balance and they will sooner or later.

Jim

I can see that you are a dog lover just like me, my Schnauzer is a mix with Jack Rusell, she is the life of the party and she can tired you out playing ball!

Your soup sounds sounds terrific! I love Portuguese soups and linquica, chorizo from Spain. Sometimes I also make a vegetarian version, same ingredients minus the sausage.

The trick for me is to grow the greens and take them out before they get buggy, no later than the stage in the picture, when is cooler in the winter, I don't have to spray like in the summer when all the bugs are out.:-(

Silvia

Mmmmm, Caldo Verde is the name I know for that very delicious soup with kale and chirizo. Hungry just thinking about it... :) My recipe is very similar to Jimster's except sub potatoes for the beans and smoked paprika for the red pepper. Fantastic!

As for the question about the strong taste, it's my understanding too that it has to do with the fact that it's warm when you harvest it. Mine tastes strong in the heat of summer, better in the cool of fall, and as pnbrown mentioned, best when harvesting the spring regrowth. I have tried chilling some in the summer to see if I could replicate the sweetening that happens with cold weather, but so far no luck.(Sometimes in August you just want something for dinner that isn't greenbeans, squash, or tomatoes.) I have also grown Trochunda and I like it a lot and it does indeed have a sweeter flavor in the summer than do the others I have grown (Lacinato and Scotch Blue), so that may be your answer. Otherwise, my chilling experiments generally flop out due to having inadvertantly frozen the leaves, but in the back of my mind I am wondering if maybe you need the whole plant for the sweetening to happen. Like maybe sugars come up from the roots or something? Hope this helps you!

Cheers!

Sunni

I absolutely love kale and put it in everything. My only problem with it is rabbits. It survives all winter here, but there's usually nothing left but stalks after the rabbits find it. I've never lost any to bugs. Never thought of using with eggs, but that sounds like something I've got to try!!

Brook

Silvia, a nice thing about florida is that it is out of the imported cabbage moth zone. If you have not tried to grow brassica crops inside that zone you can't imagine - it's by far the worst pest of cabbage-family crops, IME. Florida in winter is about perfection for brassicas.

Pat-- I am harvesting a lot of the brassica crops even after the freeze. I am glad that we don't have the moth that you are talking about, we have enough bugs as it is.:-(

Silvia

I read somewhere that some plants have a defense against freezing by producing a sugary substance that is much less likely to freeze. Ever tried freezing real syrup? It doesn't harden. So when the plant is picked in this defensive mode, it's sweeter: )

Mauirose,

Portuguese influences can be found in many Hawaiian things, most notably the ukulele, but in the cuisine as well. I don't know if kale soup is one of these items, but I would not be surprised if it is. Can you buy linguica where you live? It is popular here in Southern New England where we have many people of Portuguese heritage.

Jim

You're right Jim, still quite a few Portuguese here today. Po-da-gee in the local patois. We buy something called simply 'Portuguese Sausage'. It's popular sliced and fried and is a key ingredient (along with macaroni!) in Portuguese Bean Soup. It even makes an appearance on the McDonald's breakfast menu. Could it be linguica? Check out the link and let me know ; )

ICM sounds brutal. Is this the same white cabbage moth i am familiar with or some sinister new import?

So far the lacinato is relatively bug free but if they need protection later i am considering those white mesh 5 gallon paint strainers you can buy inexpensively at Home Depot or Lowes. i sometimes use them as jelly strainers. Seems like they could be just slipped right over the top and secured around the stalk.

Anyone tried this?

Here is a link that might be useful: Portuguese sausage

Yes, that is linguica.

Jim

I used to love eating Portuguese sausage when I lived in Hawaii from 1980-82 and yes, it was on the McDonald's breakfast menu! Isn't saimin still on the regular menu too? Haven't been to Hawaii in years. Yes, there is a large Portuguese community in New England and linguica is easy to find. I used to go on 3-week instructor tours for my agency in Andover, MA and was delighted to find linguica. It's the sausage required for caldo verde which is awesome. There are a lot of Portuguese-Americans in California too. Anyway, I have been raising kale for at least 6 years now. My sister-in-law who is originally from Utah, makes this wonderful kale dish. Here it is:

Sautéed Kale

Two bunches of kale. Cut off the stems and tear up the leaves into smaller pieces. Tear it up like you would lettuce leaves for a salad. Take four strips of bacon and chop it into small pieces or use a 1/2 cup of diced ham and pan fry lightly with a couple tbsp of olive oil. When the bacon is almost done or when the ham has been lightly cooked take a quarter cup of chopped onions and 1 or 2 cloves (chopped) of garlic and add to the mix cooking lightly until the onions are transluscent. Now add the kale and stir it around until it starts to reduce (about 5 minutes on medium flame), put a lid on the skillet and reduce the heat to low and let it sit for about 3-5 minutes. Then sprinkle balsamic vinegar to your tastes and stir everything up. Turn off the heat and let the mixture sit for another 3-5 minutes. Serve immediately. It's delicious. Kale is also great sautéed and mixed with eggs for an interesting flair to a Sunday morning omelette. Kale in many types of soup is good. Kale is great in Italian Wedding Soup, in plain old American vegetable soup, sautée kale with smoked turkey wing for quick greens. I've grown the Red and White Russian varieties, Blue Scotch curled and of course the Lacinato which some now call dinosaur kale. Ick! Hate that moniker because that's not what it is at all just some name some marketer gave it a while back. The Lacinato Nero di Tosca has a sweeter, subtler taste but I like all of them. America needs to eat more kale. Here's a link to Kale's health benefits.

http://healthmad.com/nutrition/health-benefits-of-kale/

My sister is a survivor of breast cancer now going into her 5th year cancer-free and her nutritionist recommended eating kale for its cancer-fighting properties. Here's another link.

http://whatscookingamerica.net/LindaPosch/Kale.htm

You can freeze kale too for eating in the winter. America needs more kale!

Silvia,

Here ya go - a pic of the late Pepper. What a wonderful friend he was.

{{gwi:11211}}

Jim

Jim

What a beautiful pic of Pepper! He looks just like my Nikki. I know the feeling of loosing a pet, they really never go away, they stay forever in our hearts.
Thank you for sharing.

Silvia

He looks like the intellectual type, doesn't he?
Just like his master. LOL

OK. Back to kale. Because it has a heavy substance, I suggest steaming it or blanching it before adding it to frittatas or the likes. For the same reason it is good in soups.

Jim

Mm, kale! We grew the curly leafed variety. My hubby cooks it like other Asian greens. Heat wok, saute minced garlic, add kale and salt, steam with chicken broth until tender, but not mushy. It reminds me of gai lan without the bitter aftertaste, which means I like it more than gai lan. The ruffly leaves give it a nice texture while chewing.