If you were to name one vegetable that you wish you simply LIKED more due to its reported health benefit, what would it be? For me, it is the amazing kale. I know it’s an absolute superfood, but I’m just not a great fan of smoothies.
Well, one way to go about this problem, I thought, is to try varieties that look and feel more interesting. Cavolo Nero caught my attention a while ago with its lanky leaves, so crunchy and so dark they can really pass for black just as the name would suggest.
The Tuscan kale does not disappoint the plate esthetician in me. But it’s even more pleasing to see it grown to maturity, when the knee-high plants resemble miniature palm trees. It looks truly ornamental both in shape and colour, cast against the background of your more usual garden greenery, and it’s no wonder Victorian era Englishmen grew lots of it in their walled gardens.
How We Grow It:
This is one of the “trinity” of green vegetables that we grow using the same process: sow plenty of it directly into drills in early autumn, then thin out (and eat) the seedlings as microgreens through early winter, till you get the recommended spacing, then thin again (and eat again) the young plants in spring to leave just one or two to mature fully through summer. The other two - spinach and red beetroot - you can also leave to run to seed (which they often volunteer to do despite your best efforts to stop them). You could try that with kale as well but as it follows a biennial (two-yearly) growth cycle, you’d need to wait another year for the plants to even start thinking about flowering. You’d still get a repeated harvest of the leaves in the meantime though, so it’s worth a try even if the seeding doesn’t go to plan.
We’re not going to try it this time as we only have one plant and for a successful seed you need at least two kale plants, each from a different mother plant. Wow, that’s a demanding plant to propagate, I hear you say. Agreed. The only thing that still tempts me to try it in the future is the idea of obtaining plants that are better adapted to your own garden conditions, which in turn gives stronger plants, bigger yields, and less problems with pests and diseases. It’s harnessing plant genetics to one’s own advantage, so you can grow your food organically and successfully year on year.
We sowed our kale in a no-dig raised bed, in just an inch of a fresh top layer of compost. And we let it do it’s own thing. It was going so strong all through the spring that I honestly did not expect any problems from it whatsoever, as long as I kept the soil moist with regular watering. Well, it is late July now and it’s clear the kale is loved by other garden dwellers. It’s actually still a bit of a mystery as for the main culprits behind the holes appearing on the leaves. The white cabbage butterfly visits it regularly, but so far I’ve found no eggs and no caterpillars on it. Slugs and snails are also nowhere to be found in this super-dry summer. Hmmm... ?
But the plant is strong and vigorous and doesn’t seem to mind the few sampled leaves. We just take them off and add to our compost bin when they’re too unsightly, and as it’s usually the older lower leaves that suffer most, the kale just keeps growing upwards and producing more. So we’ve decided we don’t actually mind sharing.
How We Eat It:
How do you eat greens you don’t genuinely like?
Idea 1: Shred them thinly and include in a dish you do like (even if the dish itself doesn’t necessarily call for this intrusion). I find it easier with younger kale leaves, which are suitable raw in salads of all sorts, for example. But even with the mature, uniquely shaped leaves you never know, you might find you’ve landed yourself an original recipe!
Idea 2: Turn it into oven-baked crisps! I, for one, found out I love kale crisps even more than I love regular potato crisps! But be warned, you’ll need to be on the watch, as kale does burn easily. And it will need eating promptly after baking, because it does lose its crispness quickly, so it’s not a dish you can make hours in advance.
Having said that, it makes a mouthwatering addition to any lunch sandwich I can think of. And while for a long time I’ve enjoyed crisps made from your regular kale, Cavolo Nero crisps in a sandwich turned out to be the most perfect, gourmet level lunch. I can’t help but have a go at my own step-by-step recipe. Coming soon!
Update:
Idea 3: We are in the middle of winter and our kale is approaching its second year of cropping. Before it tries to flower and go to seed, it has started to grow small tender sprouts, which look like tiny kales in their own right. They lack the kale’s usual grassy flavour and are instead more akin to broccoli in taste. Delicious to crunch raw, but also when briefly sweated to accompany any dinner!
Feel free to leave a note below if this post has provoked some further ideas in your mind. Thanks for your time!
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