If you like having kale year-round, try this kale trick to extend your plants into a new season. Our latest YouTube video explains how to use old roots to foster new growth on your kale plants. P.S. it works with other brassica crops as well.
Our latest YouTube video takes you on a tour of our favorite kale varieties that we're growing this fall in the Gardenerd Test Garden.
In honor of our first kale harvest (albeit the lower leaves of each young kale plant), I want to celebrate the start of kale season with recipes. Fall is my favorite growing season, mainly because kale grows without attracting aphids.
This Christmas we'll be cooking from the garden. Kale is going gangbusters out there in our warm-winter garden, so we'll feature it in the holiday feast with this Kale Salad with Pomegranate and Maple Pecan recipe. This salad highlights fall fruits (apple, pomegranate) and nuts along with a warming cayenne kick. It's the perfect combination of sweet and savory, plus it looks cheery on the holiday table. Kale Salad with Pomegranate and Maple Pecans From Vegetarian Times - Oct. 2013…
I've heard colleagues say that tree kale never goes to seed, that it can only be propagated by cuttings. Well, my 10-foot tree kale would beg to differ. It's gone to seed after falling over in a wind storm (probably stress-induced) while it continues to produce tasty leaves. Tree kale is a perennial vegetable lauded by the permaculture community because it forms deep roots (obviously deep enough to withstand falling over in a wind storm). We propped that baby back…
This one is for you kale lovers and permaculturists out there: perennial tree kale. Yes, it's true. Imagine a year-round supply of kale that doesn't fall prey to aphids in hot weather. Perennial vegetables form deeper root systems and require less water and care than annual varieties. When annuals bite the dust, perennial tree kale keeps going. The caveat? It lives for 3-4 years, then must be propagated from cuttings. You can do this, and Gardenerd is here to show…
It's kale season, and we have (don't gasp) 28 plants...or so...growing in the Gardenerd test garden; 10 different varieties to be specific. What can I say, we love kale! Here is the most recent recipe we tested out on the first chilly night of the season. You'll love this Tuscan Kale Risotto with Mushrooms and Rosemary: Here's the recipe - warning - it uses a lot of pans: Tuscan Kale Risotto with Mushrooms and Rosemary - Vegetarian Times, June 2016…
October 1st is National Kale Day. Who cares that the holiday is only observed in Canada? We deserve to celebrate here in the States as well. Needless to say, we're very excited about this at Gardenerd. Every day we tout the benefits of kale and growing your own. Now we have an excuse to wax rhapsodic about this glorious vegetable with an official day to back us up. We're not crazy, just crazy about kale. This season we're growing 6…
For winter gardeners, kale is a staple crop that we have the pleasure of harvesting all season long. It grows well in spring in cooler climates, so for those covered in snow, you have that to look forward to. While there is no shortage of kale recipes to try, the goal, in fact, is to try as many as possible. Salads, soups, stews and main dishes; the possibilities are endless. This week we made the Northern Spy Kale Salad from…
I would like to present one of the best soups I've ever eaten. It was restaurant-quality delicious and very easy to make. It uses kale and garlic
from the garden (save this for your upcoming garlic harvest) and shiitake mushrooms from the farmers' market.
Garlic Kale Soup - Vegetarian Times, February 2010
I ran across the recipe recently in an Anti-Inflammatory eBook put together by Vegetarian Times. It showcases inflammation fighting ...