I found a recipe in last month's Woman's Day magazine for a sausage and kale soup. I searched the stores for fresh kale and finally found some. Since the soup turned out great and we really liked it I emptied a tub and filled it with potting soil and compost and planted some seeds for kale. It's came up and is about 3/4 inches high already. It's rather thick but I will thin it out when the leaves get bigger and start to curl. I do not know the name of it because I didn't buy the seed. One of the farmer's from the farm market bought a large amount of it and poured some in a small container for me. I don't remember what it was except that it's kale. Next time I see him I will ask him if it's a specific kind and what brand name it is. We had some frost last night but kale is a cold weather vegetable and looks okay. dooley moderator's note: added a more descriptive title to topic
I've grown several varieties of kale. The Siberian will make it through a very cold spell if protected with a little straw and/or snow. Light freezes don't seem to bother it much. Some varieties are a little more delicate and don't care for temps into the low 20's and teens F. If you liked the soup, you might try making some vegie lasgna with chopped kale between the layers. It is a favorite of mine. Of course it's good with a little bacon and vinegar the traditional way too. Hope your little seedlings do well for you and provide some yummy meals. This winter all of my kale will have to come from the grocery store, since summer got away from me and I didn't get much but flowers from my garden this year.
The Kale is still OK here dooley and we have had a few good freezes. We eat Kale with our Christmas dinner. My mom cooks it with double smoked bacon...mmmmmm!
You folks, honestly! I thought I had my winter garden all planted, and now you have convinced me to try some kale. Actually, I love all the new vegetables and plants that I learn about here. It wouldn't hurt to post that sausage and kale soup recipe !
Maybe I will cover my tub ok kale at night when the weather turns a bit cooler. It was about 41 this morning so it's okay. I cover my tub of lettuce at night and it's still growing strong. I do need to cut some for supper tonight though. I would have posted the recipe but was not sure you can post recipes from magazines and such. It's not my own recipe. My son said he found it on the Woman's Day web site. dooley
Thank you for giving the recipe's source. I'll look for it on that website. Now, to find some kale seed . . . .
I love kale. It's one of my favorite vegetables. I love the flavor. It's not as strong tasting as collards. I like that too. I've grown the curly stuff and now I'm growing Siberian Kale. It's tough. I grow it all winter. Our first predicted freeze is Tuesday morning. So, tomorrow night I'll throw a Remay frost blanket over the kale. I like the Remay because I can leave it on all the time and I only lift it to water and harvest. Kale can handle a light frost. I don't pull the whole plant but rather snip off leaves and in a week or so the plants are ready to harvest again. I wash the leaves, vein mature leaves and throw them in a skillet with a little chicken broth or water. They don't require a lot of cooking. They take longer to cook than spinach but not a longer cooking time like collards. I think your sausage and kale soup would be wonderful. I often snip a few kale leaves into soups. Kale is good with bacon drippings, chopped onion or a little diced ham. I've stuffed them with diced ham, mashed potato and cheese. I simmered the little kale packets in broth. Stuffed cabbage leaves are easier to handle but the kale was tasty. Except for very young leaves, I think Kale is a little tough for salad greens. I understand it freezes well but I've never bothered to do that since we can harvest it here from October through March. Kale is an easy to grow green and it's nutritious. It's $1.99 for a puny bunch of curly Kale at the grocery store. So, I'm pretty smug about cooking twice that for pennies.
I grew Kale when we lived in Arizona. I grew Swiss Chard, also. It was hard finding kale here at the grocery stores. It was $1.99 a bunch when I did. I saw WalMart had a space marked kale but it was empty. I asked and they said it didn't come in on the truck. I planted the curly kind, I hope. I'll look for some other kinds of seed. The feed store where Rick bought his does not sell small packages. Just farm size packages (lbs). dooley
Until I grew my own, I didn't know there was any other kind of kale but Curly Kale. That's all my mother had years ago. It's all I've ever seen in the produce section of the grocery store. Frankly, I was surprised when kale seed I got from a friend wasn't curly. It tasted good though. It's also easier to clean--no uninvited, cooked critters on your plate. But the curly kale is so pretty especially the red varieties.
I've grown Red Russian kale for 4 years now and really have found it to be not only an excellant grower, but highly productive as well. I usually start seeds inside in late January, transplant starts out in March even tho' our weather's still highly unstable then, put a cage of Remy around the plants just to protect them from any wet, heavy snows we may still get. This past season I had 6 total, were more then enough for fresh eating and freezing, plus gave some away. Plants grow upright on large stalks; get over 3 feet high; are VERY prolific! I use kale in quiches in place of spinach, in soups and stews as well or just cooked, buttered and seasoned as a straight-from-the-garden vegetable..is quite versatile when you come right down to it. I got this specific variety from Pinetree (in Maine) where it's listed under "Continental Vegetables", but they also have an excellant selection of other types listed simply under "kales". Prices are sure right for the number of seeds you get per packet; germination rate is almost 100%; seed's good for 4 years. I would call the Red Russian a semi-curly leafed type; flavor's excellant; plants can withstand not only cold but heat I've found, are very easy to grow. Kale is one of those mostly overlooked garden veggies that are laded with vitamins and trace minerals..a great health food to try and enjoy! ------------- AM SO SORRY about the triple entry..having awful winds here and computer's acting up..forgive me! moderator's note: moved this post into this already existing topic
Not a problem weeds n seeds. I deleted the two extra copies of the post and moved your apology into this topic.
