Kale

[heavyhitterokra]

Quote, Woodeye said,  "chrysanthemum , I've thought about this extensively over the course of several weeks:

You have got to be the most industrious lady that I know. And I am 100% certain that there is nobody that can possibly prove me wrong..." 


Chrysanthemum, I'm 100% with Woodeye on that account.

[hmoosek]

Sept 8, 2022 6:40:20 GMT -6 heavyhitterokra said:

Quote, Woodeye said,  "chrysanthemum , I've thought about this extensively over the course of several weeks:

You have got to be the most industrious lady that I know. And I am 100% certain that there is nobody that can possibly prove me wrong..." 


Chrysanthemum, I'm 100% with Woodeye on that account.

+3

[chrysanthemum]

You fellows are sweet. Thanks for the votes of confidence. (I will say, though, that the only reason that you can say that is that you don’t know my mother!)

You’ll notice, however, that I’m on the forum when I should probably be getting lunch for my kids. I’m just needing to cool off a bit after a very busy morning in a lot of heat and humidity, and I have a few pictures to post here, so I’m taking a break.

[amyinowasso]

I bought pop up laundry baskets at Dollar tree that I put over zucchini one year. I think they would be bigger than the waste baskets, taller at least. They do tear eventually, but can be mended and collapse for storage. I know they kept the vine borer moth out, but I didn't pin them to the ground well enough to prevent squash bugs. I caught and killed a few, and they didn't come back. I planted a self pollinating variety. We got a few, but the plants got mildew. Because of the covering? I don't know.

[chrysanthemum]

I transplanted some more kale today, but I did it in a different bed.  A number of my kale and cauliflower plants got torn up when I had the digging in my garden a few weeks ago, and the plants that remained really haven’t grown all that much.  I decided to put the newer kale in a different place where I could amend quite heavily with my I homemade compost.

A few weeks ago my younger homeschoolers and I had a lesson about seeds, and they learned about germination and seedlings.  As part of that lesson, I let them choose some seeds that were appropriate for fall planting and start them inside.  My six year old chose Dinosaur Kale, Golden Carrots, and Victoria Rhubarb.  My ten year old chose some Hollyhocks that we had bought for fall planting in Virginia in 2017 before we knew that we were moving to Texas.  We’ve never planted any before.  Those seedlings have been on my deck for a while and really needed to get into the ground, but my six and ten year old are both sick today, so I did the transplanting for them.  The carrots are just a few in the corner.  The kale is under the wastebaskets because though that didn’t keep out diggers, it has seemed to keep away cabbage moths.

[hmoosek]

My Uncle always planted Hollyhocks, so they should do well for you here. It’s time to plant garlic here too.

[chrysanthemum]

I thought I’d post an update on some of my son’s kale.  It’s getting close to time for me to take off the wire wastebaskets, but I’m waiting till I really have to.  I’ve had some cabbage worms on my earlier planting, though nothing too bad.  I’d just like these to get a bit larger before I let them get attacked.  When the weather cools, there shouldn’t be so many moths.

[chrysanthemum]

I did my first little harvest of Dinosaur kale this morning as I wanted to have some to add to lentil soup for dinner tonight.  I took most of the harvest from the two plants pictured above.  I’ve found a worm on one of them, and there’s definitely evidence of gnawing, but I haven’t been finding more worms or eggs.  It’s kind of strange.  After I trimmed it significantly I put a wastebasket over it again, though it is getting tall for that.  I also did a bit of trimming and thinning of my son’s small plants.  

[woodeye]

Your kale looks great, chrysanthemum. I have some kale seeds now for next year, I probably got exactly the wrong variety to try though, it's White Russian. Also gonna try some Swiss Chard, Fordhook Giant. I grew Swiss Chard decades ago and loved it, but it's been so long ago that I don't remember which variety it was...

[amyinowasso]

White Russian is better as a cocktail. Seriously, in my opinion the Russians are thicker leaved and tougher. That could probably be solved with a "massage" which is supposed to tenderize kale, but the lacinato has more tender leaves. Fordhook giant is kind of a standard for Chard. I had one live through both a hot summer and the entire winter once.
every time I see a new variety of kale, Chard and collards, I have to have it.

[woodeye]

Nov 13, 2022 10:16:35 GMT -6 amyinowasso said:

White Russian is better as a cocktail. Seriously, in my opinion the Russians are thicker leaved and tougher. That could probably be solved with a "massage" which is supposed to tenderize kale, but the lacinato has more tender leaves. Fordhook giant is kind of a standard for Chard. I had one live through both a hot summer and the entire winter once.
every time I see a new variety of kale, Chard and collards, I have to have it.

Figures. Boy I picked a fine time to be a teetotaler. If it does produce something semi-edible, and I can't massage it to the correct consistency, I'll run it through the meat tenderizer...

[chrysanthemum]

I had never had Lacinato Kale before a couple of weeks ago when we got some at the store (I was growing it before that but didn’t have enough to harvest). It may have been our particular batch, but we found it more tough that what we usually buy in bags. I have no idea what variety that woud be. Our homegrown Lacinato was much more tender simply because we picked it much smaller. woodeye, you could just pick your White Russian Kale as baby leaves if you found them tough when they’re larger.

I grew Rainbow Chard last year. It grew really well, but my kids didn’t love it except if I cooked it in a cheese sauce. Then it was a pretty big hit, but that’s just not how I prefer to prepare greens all the time.

[amyinowasso]

I have heard people say they like the Russian. I have a friend who puts her kale in smoothies, so it doesn't really matter to her. We have "Bonnie" kale right now. (Whatever variety they sell), we like in soup, so it gets cooked a long time. The other thing you can do with any greens is cook them in the crock pot with what ever broth you like and maybe onions and or ham hock. This seems to tenderize them.

[woodeye]

Well there we go then, chrysanthemum & amyinowasso, I'll do just that. If I pick them as baby leaves, I'll add them to a salad. And if they get bigger, I'll cook them if necessary. Problem solved. Thank You, ladies...  

[amyinowasso]

I always thought Lacinato was the same as Dinosaur and Nero de Toscana (the first one I tried). Fedco has Rainbow Lacinato in with Curly Kale and groups Dazzling Blue and Nero de Toscana together under Dinosaur kale. Oh, never mind they describe Dazzling Blue as Lacinato leaved, so I'm not wrong, but I'm wondering if they group them by tenderness. Baker Creek listed Nero as a cabbage when I bought it and it's rather ugly so I was afraid to try it, but it's quite good.