for the love of Kale

Kale and I have gotten pretty committed to each other over the years. It was one of the first plants I was drawn to growing because its easy to grow, it grows through the winter in my area, and it is incredibly healthy eating. 

Of course in those early years things weren't so easy between us, I found its taste to be fairly strong on the green side, so I grew it, but *gasp!* wouldn't eat it. It took me two years to find a variety I liked, a variety with several different names, I've heard Tuscan Kale, Dinosaur Kale,  Black Kale or Lancinato Kale, it all is the same tasty and beautiful plant. This was my gateway eating Kale, but still for a couple of years I would only eat it cooked, chopped and thrown in a pasta sauce, or, when feeling very brave chopped and sauteed only with oil, salt and chilli flakes.  Then after eating fresh garden greens through the winter for a few years I came to LOVE the taste, maybe because it was making me feel so good, or maybe I just got used to it. Now, I eat it raw as well, and have expanded my Kale selection to include Curly Kales, which lend themselves nicely to raw winter salads. 

The winter gardens are one of the payoffs for living in the rainy climate. I will always start Kales and Chards in the Spring for Summer eating, and then start more seeds in June, plant them out in July and let them get big so that you can eat those all winter long.

This is my "Winter Garden" before I dug it, I chose this location because it faces south, is somewhat sheltered from the rain and is really well drained.

Here it is dug and planted, I actually emptied out the soil from some of my super large containers into this bed to hill it up a little, and to reduce the clay content a bit.

One of the Tuscan Kale transplants. You can direct sow Kale, but I like to start the seeds indoors to help differentiate the seedling from weed seedlings. This may change as I become more experienced.

 Swiss Chard on the left, Kale on the right. They are getting bigger, I usually start eating off them at this point. Just taking one or two leaves at a time, giving them lots of time to rejuvenate.

Happy times in late June, the plants are really established and the eating is good.

Late July abundance. I have intercropped on a big scale, there is the tall sunflower at the far left, two Kales, and a Brussels Sprouts plant on the right. This is the first year I may actually get Brussels Sprouts. You can't even see the Chard anymore amongst all this green. Planted throughout the bed are bush beans like kidney and black, planted to fix nitrogen in the soil, and maybe even to feed me. 

Finally here is a recipe for a dressing to try with raw kale, something hearty to compliment it:

Miso Orange Honey Dressing

Blend together:

2tbs Miso

1 Orange, peeled and seeded

1tbs Honey 

2tbs or more Oil (like flax or sesame or olive oil)

Black or Tan Sesame seeds are also great to add.