Topic: Kale

[titus a duxas]

Hi Growers 
I like the old  Kale Scottish I think its called there appears to be of of new types about
Any varieties worth trying for taste and hardiness etc thanks in advance

[goodlife]

Hello there for you too

I like Sutherland kale...and Red Russian...and Siberian kale...and Pentland Brigand and..I just like Kale full stop.
But those 4 that I name are some of my particular favourites. They  have good flavour and are really hardy varieties, I seem to favour less frillier types. Young leaves of Red Russian I like to eat raw as salad veg too..
Few year ago I did grow several different types on my plot and did taste test...and all the frilly types, although they look more interesting, they did lack some of the flavour and sweetness than the more plain leaf types. But as hardiness..I never really had any issues with any kale varieties that I've grown with that point.
If you do like eating kales....I would recommend to get hold of many different types seeds and experiment with their flavours. Before I did my taste test...I just thought 'kale is just kale'...but no, just like with any other veg...there is at least subtle differences.

Edit to add...just thought of something...
Not to pull 'frilly types' down..they have their uses for me. I prefer them where the kale is to be mixed into dish...like lasagne, stew..etc...as plain leaf types would be just flattened into slimy green bits...frilly types having more structure will cope with the weight of the 'food', looking and giving more pleasant 'mouth feel' for the greens in a dish. If I want to eat kale as its own dish...then I always go for more plain leaf type .
Just some of my observations...

[ancellsfarmer]

Goodlife?
I've only grown Nero and curly in the past, but would like a more varied choice.
Do you grow these varieties to crop consequtively or concurrently? If the former, in what sequence do you plant, and how long from seed to first harvest typically for each?

[goodlife]

I don't tend to grow kale for cropping during summer months...it is late season/spring crop for me. I do grow perennial kales too so if I should fancy some...I have some sort of kale to eat all year round.
I have just dug out my kale seed as I'm about to sow some in next week or so. This year I'm going to grow all in 'mass' rather than individual plants...sown, pricked out and transplanted in neat rows. Other year when I did some seed saving...the plants dropped LOADS of seed on the ground...I only find out that following year, in spring, when they started to germinate...and I had sea of kale and it was best kale ever
So now I'm just going to broadcast different varieties in block and let them get on with it..eating those that need to be thin out first
The good thing with kale is that it doesn't need to be harvested until you are ready to eat them..and they won't be flowering until next year..so I just do one sowing and job done!

[johhnyco15]

think i might give other varieties a try this winter i love there hardiness defiant in the cold and the snow

[goodlife]

Some of my past kale plants..

[goodlife]

And some with name labels... and perennial variegated kale...and perennial green kale...

[goodlife]

And one more...perennial kale..photo that I just took few minutes ago. Is in my chickens pen and the plant is now 5ft tall and the chickens have eaten all the lower greenery..so the plant has a bare stem/trunk and all the greenery on the top is just starting sprout out for new growth again.

[squeezyjohn]

I haven't looked back since growing perennial kale ... Taunton Deane is such a winner with it's copious amounts of sweet leaves for the 'hungry gap' and my first plant is 5 years old and going strong with a trunk like a small tree.

The only thing I have to watch out for is protecting it from pigeons who seem to love the new shoots as much as I do!

[Digeroo]

I personally like red Russian kale.  Seems to be more or less bullet proof.  Though the deer hve finally taken to it.  I also love the flowers like purple sprouting, lovely with a fried egg on top. 

My perennial kale is not doing well, after a year it is dying off, so I only have the ones I planted on.  Not much to eat.  I think it is not getting enough sun in the winter so I will try moving it.  We are also very windy so it might object to that, not may brassicas last the winter.  Might try a blue net, keeps things a little warmer and out of the wind.

[small]

I grew kale for the first time this year (free packet of curly purple sort) and was blown away by how delicious it was, it's lasted through the winter and is sprouting new from all up the stems, result! My problem was, though, that through the autumn it was covered in white fly and took forever to wash before cooking. Has anyone a remedy for that? And thank you to Goodlife for such careful and useful pictures, you are a star!

[goodlife]

Yes..I have remedy for white flies...just cook them

I can't be asked getting rid of them and washing them off... life is too short. Once they've had swim in 'hot tub' and you pour that little bit of cooking water away or even if you steam the kale..you won't find any amongst the cooked greenery..they just 'melt away'...

[Paulh]

But does that still qualify as vegetarian? And what about Buddhists?

[goodlife]

But does that still qualify as vegetarian? And what about Buddhists?

I don't know about that..
But is it any better to drown them?...and I remember reading from somewhere..'that in our lifetime each one of us eat 'x-amount(figure that has escaped from my memory) insects alive'!!! YUCK! I have done that when cycling or walking through cloud of flying 'things'.
But if any veggie or Buddhist feel like they want to pick each every insect off their veggie leaves alive, they can help themselves..I don't have issue with it ....I think I would get hungry doing that...

[small]

Honestly Goodlife, that never occurred to me! I'll try it on myself before I run it past slightly fussier OH...brilliant!

[peanuts]

i now have four successfully growing different perennial kale (thank you Galina!).  They are so useful as people are saying. 
What I'd like to know is how I should care for them now.  Should I cut them back, trim them, prune them in any way, or just let them grow shoots and get bigger?

[titus a duxas]

Thanks for the recommendations I am now on a Kale mission 
Taunton deane cuttings any one know of a supply please

[goodlife]

i now have four successfully growing different perennial kale (thank you Galina!).  They are so useful as people are saying. 
What I'd like to know is how I should care for them now.  Should I cut them back, trim them, prune them in any way, or just let them grow shoots and get bigger?

You don't have to..but they tend to grow so huge that eventually the plant will topple over....and those stems against soil will root again making it all HUGE tangle of stems. Guess how I know that....
So...you would be better off cutting all the side stems quite close the main stem..cut down to lowest new sprouting growth and you'll be able to keep the plant reasonably under control.
As they are perennials and will spend quite long time growing on same area...TLC would do good. Some sort of mulch and sprinkle of general feed would do them good    In winter I tend to give them dusting of lime as well.

[Borlotti]

I remember my mother used to wash raspberries in slightly salted water so the bugs floated to the top. I would washthe kale in salted water and shake, if you dont use salt in cooking dont add any to the cooking water, even if it doesnt work younwillnfeel better. I also give my kale a good kicking before picking and they fly off. Kale white fly proof st present but have put old crates over
er it as plgeons ate it. Sorry about typlng tablet.

[lottie lou]

Arrrgh, stupid me.  I chopped my perennial kale down as I thought it was too big, mothy and finished and dug it out.  Should have remembered the meaning of the word "perennial".  Luckily the cuttings I took look very bonny underneath the blue netting so hopefully not all is lost.