How to Grow Kale: Planting, Pest Prevention, and Harvesting Tips

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Kale is one among my favourite greens to develop. These versatile greens will be steamed or stir fried, chopped into soups, or baked into chips. And the younger leaves are scrumptious in salads. It’s an ideal double-duty plant, as a result of it provides fascinating foliage in numerous shades of inexperienced to a backyard or a decorative container, with the added bonus of with the ability to harvest a few of the leaves. Plus it’s super-healthy. Kale is an efficient supply of fiber and excessive in vitamin C. Studying develop kale is fairly straightforward. Sadly its nemesis, the cabbage worm, can crush—or fairly eat—all of your kale-growing goals in a short time. Listed here are some tips about elevating wholesome kale crops.

Styles of kale to develop

There are a lot of totally different styles of this member of the Brassica household (Brassica oleracea, to be actual), which additionally contains broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, Brussels sprouts, and cabbage. Niki has detailed 14 varieties of kale that can assist you work out a favourite.

My favourite styles of kale embrace Vates, a curly selection. Curly kale has these fantastic, ruffled leaves. Once I use it, I minimize across the powerful stems and toss them within the compost. If I’m stir frying the leaves, I discover generally the curls turn into a bit crispy, which provides a pleasant crunch to a dish. If I eat the leaves uncooked, I choose them once they’re small small in order that they’re sweeter.

Lacinato kale, additionally known as Tuscan or Dinosaur, has these longer, slim crinkly-looking leaves. It’s scrumptious steamed and stir fried. It’s additionally actually placing in a backyard.

When purchasing for kale seeds, yow will discover a spread of hues and leaf shapes among the many totally different varieties, from the purple-red veins and blue-green leaves of Crimson Russian, to the wealthy purple-red of mature Redbor kale.

dinosaur kale — Dinosaur kale is a good selection so as to add to containers, or if you wish to add fascinating foliage to a decorative backyard. In fact it tastes nice, too.

The right way to develop kale from seed

Up to now, I’ve purchased kale seedlings within the spring, however these days, I develop my kale from seed. I’ll direct-sow it in one among my raised beds in March or April, relying on the spring we’re having. Kale is chilly tolerant and prefers temperatures, between 55 °F and 75°F (13°C to 24°C). You’ll be able to sow seeds nearer collectively when you’ll be harvesting for child kale leaves. Learn the seed packet rigorously to find out how huge mature crops will get, so you possibly can decide spacing accordingly (normally about 45 to 60 cm [18 to 24 inches apart]).

I’ll additionally sow kale seeds below my develop lights to offer it a head begin. My develop gentle stand has a capillary mat and reservoir, which waters from beneath. If my seeds aren’t sown in that setup, I exploit a mister spray bottle to water the seeds of their cells or small pots, so the seeds and subsequent delicate younger seedlings don’t get washed away.

kale seedlings in a pot — Kale seedlings in a pot. These are a container selection, so I grew them in a “salad bowl,” however I’ve additionally planted some out within the backyard.

The right way to develop kale from transplants

Kale itself is stuffed with vitamins, nevertheless it wants a number of vitamins to develop, particularly nitrogen. Add a layer of compost (about two inches) to the vegetable backyard earlier than planting. I top-dress my raised beds with compost within the fall, in order that they’re prepared for early-spring sowing and planting.

Whether or not you’ve bought seedlings, or grown your individual, use a chopstick to softly tease your seedling out of the cell pack or tray and plant it within the backyard in an space that will get full solar. Kale will develop in partial shade, however I’ve discovered it does higher with extra solar. Preserve your seedlings effectively watered and look ahead to pest injury. Fertilize repeatedly as a part of your summer season routine utilizing an natural fertilizer.

Rising kale so as to add to decorative preparations

Usually you’ll see decorative kale varieties on the backyard middle, particularly within the fall, for use in autumn preparations. I prefer to develop my very own foliage. I normally pop a few kale crops out of my backyard so as to add to my pots. They add a beautiful texture to my containers. Earlier than the winter, I dig them again into my raised mattress. That’s how I obtained my kale plant with the bark on it, as proven beneath.

This moody fall container options one among my favourite autumn palettes—and Vates Blue kale.

Coping with kale pests

The aforementioned cabbage worms are the principle pest I’ve handled on my kale crops. Apparently groundhogs are a wholesome bunch, as a result of my good friend caught one consuming her kale in one among her raised mattress containers. I’ve additionally had deer munch on a few of my kale crops.

A couple of years in the past, I used to be on a PBS gardening particular known as Rising Knowledge. It featured my upcycled lettuce desk the place I’d planted quite a lot of child salad greens, together with child kale. In between takes, I seemed down at one level and tried to not reveal my absolute horror that the kale leaves have been completely coated in wee cabbage worms. I hadn’t observed as a result of they have been solely on the row of kale crops! Fortunately the digital camera didn’t discover both.

a cabbage worm on kale — Cabbage worms can wreak havoc in a vegetable backyard. And so they can camouflage themselves effectively! I do cautious inspections of my leaves, back and front to search for indicators of injury, cabbage worms, or eggs.

Cabbage worms can do a whole lot of injury in a really brief time period. Jessica has an article with some nice suggestions for coping with cabbage worms. Examine younger seedlings repeatedly and thoroughly, particularly when you see small bits of leaves begin to disappear.

Cabbage aphids are additionally a nuisance, particularly if you go to reap kale solely to find the leaves are crawling with tiny bugs. Ew! A heavy blast from the hose can assist take away them, although you might not wish to eat the affected leaves. You can too attempt companion planting to draw helpful bugs, like ladybugs, which eat aphids, amongst others.

Defending your kale crops with row cowl

I typically plant kale below light-weight floating row cowl. Once I wrote my first ebook, Raised Mattress Revolution, I added 1/2-inch conduit clamps to the within lengths of one among my raised beds that might accommodate 1/2-inch pex pipe. This versatile materials can simply be minimize with an xacto blade and types an ideal semi-circle that when inserted into the clamps, creates a mini hoop home. I exploit light-weight floating row cowl that lets daylight and rain by. I maintain the ends in place utilizing spring clamps across the edges of the raised mattress.

My mini hoop house setup protects my Brassica crops—kale, kalettes, broccoli, and cabbages—from cabbage worms. — My mini hoop home setup protects my Brassica crops—kale, kalettes, broccoli, and cabbages—from cabbage worms.

My unique intention was to make use of this mattress as a season extender, however I obtained fairly uninterested in each squirrels digging up newly planted seeds, and the cabbage moths swooping in to put their eggs. Now the raised mattress protects all of the Brassica crops I planted within the spring all through the summer season months.

Purple Moon kale eaten by a cabbage worm — I planted some seeds for a brand new selection known as Purple Moon in my A-frame raised mattress. Quickly there have been a few small leaves on every seedling. Then at some point I got here out to water, and a cabbage worm had defoliated each seedlings because the day earlier than!

The right way to harvest kale so it retains rising

Like lettuce, kale falls into that cut-and-come-again class. You don’t have to tug the entire plant or wait till it’s “prepared.” You’ll be able to maintain harvesting the outer leaves on the base of the stem (I exploit my backyard scissors). The plant will proceed to develop new leaves within the middle of the plant.

Child kale is a scrumptious salad inexperienced. And it could sound a bit nutty to therapeutic massage your greens, however I’ll say that massaging kale leaves—particularly the larger ones—works to make them far more tender and palatable when eaten uncooked. Kale is nice for the freezer, too. Right here’s recommendation on freeze kale for later use.

harvesting kale — I harvest kale all through the complete rising season, from tender younger greens to mature leaves.

The right way to develop kale—and overwinter it for a second season

Many gardeners develop kale as an annual, nevertheless it’s truly a biennial. Relying on the place you reside, kale can overwinter. It additionally doesn’t thoughts the cooler temperatures and within the fall, it will probably style even sweeter after a frost.

Usually, to overwinter kale, you would possibly wish to cowl it or plant in a protected space. Dwelling below an escarpment, I’m in a little bit of a protected zone, so I as soon as had a kale plant dwell to be about three years outdated with out winter safety! The leaves died again in fall, however got here again in spring.

a kale plant in its third season — A couple of years in the past, one among my kale crops got here again three years in a row.

Moreover my raised beds, I’ve grown kale alongside the aspect of my entrance backyard for winter harvests. The cement supplied a bit of heat and guarded my crop, however I additionally coated it in floating row cowl for winter safety.

overwintered kale protected by floating row cover — My overwintered kale in early spring. I used to be harvesting the tender younger leaves when there was nonetheless snow on the bottom!

The brand new progress slowed significantly, however I used to be harvesting kale on winter days. Then within the spring, the plant began to turn into productive as soon as extra earlier than rising flowers and going to seed.

kale flowers — If you happen to enable your kale to bloom in its second season, it should produce beautiful edible yellow flowers that the bees love!

In its second 12 months, a kale plant grows actually beautiful yellow flowers that entice bees. If you happen to don’t wish to await the flowers to bloom, the unopened buds style like broccoli. Merely pinch them off and add them to salads and stir fries. The flowers are edible, too—toss them in your salad for a decorative topping.