Try using kale leaves as a sandwich wrap or place under fish and chicken during the cooking process.
Additional Uses for Kale
- Pizza (topping)
- Breakfast casserole or quiche.
- Stuffing.
- Caesar salad.
- Spinach dip.
- Hamburger patties or meatloaf.
- Pesto.
- Tamales and tacos.
What do you do with an abundance of kale from the garden?
5 Ways to Eat Kale – or what to do with the rest of the bag of…
- Toss it with Pasta. Kale and pasta go together beautifully.
- Serve it in a Salad. Chop it up and toss it in with other salad veggies.
- Add Kale to Scrambled Eggs.
- Make Kale Chips.
- Easy Kale Skillet Side Dish.
What do you do with kale after harvest?
How to Store Kale. Kale will store for two to three weeks at 32° to 34°F (0°-4°C) and 90 to 95 percent humidity (moist) with some air circulation. Wrap leaves in a moist cloth or paper towel and store them in a perforated plastic bag in the vegetable crisper of the refrigerator; this will keep leaves from drying.
Does kale keep growing after you cut it?
Kale is programmed to continue to produce leaves for some time. If you cut the stems or root, you’ll damage the plant and either stall or destroy any potential new growth. Instead, cut at the base of the leaves you want to pick in one session and leave everything else alone (new growth, stems, and roots included).
What can I do with a bumper crop of spinach?
After harvesting spinach, use what leaves you can as a fresh vegetable. In a bumper crop, you can steam or sauté the extra leaves and chop them. Freeze the resulting product in sealed containers or bags. Plant a fall crop in early August for harvest all the way into October or until freezing temperatures arrive.
When should I throw kale away?
Signs that your kale is no longer safe to eat include:
- Black specks on the foliage.
- Black, white, or rust-colored spots, which may signal a fungal infection.
- Wilted, soggy, and/or slimy texture.
- An unpleasant, sulfur-like smell.
When should I remove kale from my garden?
Kale is ready to pick approximately 60 days after seeds have been planted. At this point, healthy plants will have upwards of ten leaves, with small ones in the center and larger ones on the outside. If you’re looking to grow baby kale, plants will be ready to pick and enjoy in 25 to 30 days after they are sown.
Does kale grow back every year?
Although kale is normally grown as an annual plant, it is actually a biennial, which means it has a two-year life cycle. In its first growing season, your kale plant will produce lots of leafy green foliage. In USDA hardiness zones 7 through 10, it will keep producing new leaves throughout the winter.
Does kale regrow after winter?
In USDA Hardiness Zones 7 to 10, biennial kale will continue to produce edible leaves throughout the winter. While in colder zones, these plants will go dormant during the winter – which means their leaves may die back, but their root systems will remain alive.
Can you eat kale once it has bolted?
Those tiny flower buds that appear on your kale plants at the end of the season don’t necessarily mean the end of your crop. In fact, just the opposite: the florets are a bonus harvest you can eat, and they turn even sweeter if you’ve had frost.
Will kale regrow if cut back?
Kale can be pruned any time, but most gardeners who prune their kale do it when the yield is declining later into the season. Instead of removing the kale plants, they will just prune them so they can start growing back.
How many harvests can you get from kale?
There is no limit on how many times you can harvest Kale if you follow the correct harvesting steps. If your plant is kept healthy and you avoid picking or damaging the central bud the plant will continue to grow and you can pick fresh leaves every two weeks.
Can you use kale as a cover crop?
As a cover crop kale can be planted in late summer or early fall; using it as a winter crop helps protect the soil longer from erosion. Establishment: The spring green-up of Kale is similar to forage rapes.
Should I remove spinach flowers?
You can plant a new spinach crop after the hot weather ends in fall. You can pinch off the flower buds in an attempt to slow the bolting process, but this is usually a losing battle. Another option is to allow the spinach to flower, enjoy the blooms and collect the seeds for next season.
How many times can you regrow spinach?
ANSWER: As long as the growing point is not damaged during the initial harvesting and the weather is still cool, spinach plants will most likely regrow for two or more harvests.
Can you leave kale in the ground over winter?
Certain crops such as broccoli, cabbage, claytonia, kale, and spinach can easily survive through the winter without any protection. Other crops like arugula, leeks and lettuce often die when unprotected during periods of extreme winter cold.
How long can you leave kale in the garden?
Kale will grow for up to 2 years in your garden. The first year of growth gives you plenty of delicious leaves. In the second year, your plants will focus on producing seeds. Grow your kale as annuals if you just want leaves from your plants.
Can I bring kale inside for winter?
Bringing Kale Indoors
You can either plant a few kale seeds specifically for growing inside or bring a container with kale already growing in it inside. Kale will need some sunlight to thrive indoors over the winter. The sill or ledge of a window that faces south can be an ideal spot for kale.
Should I dig up kale?
Kale is ready to harvest when the leaves are about the size of your hand. Pick about a fistful of outer leaves per harvest, but no more than one-third of the plant at one time. Avoid picking the terminal bud (at the top center of the plant), which helps to maintain the plant’s productivity.
Should I let my kale go to seed?
First, gardeners will need to pay close attention to when kale has gone to seed. For optimal seed production, growers will want to leave the plants until the seed pods and stalks have started to dry and turn brown. This will help to ensure that the seeds are mature at harvest time.
Can you eat overwintered kale?
Both the leaves and buds from overwintered kale and collards are remarkably sweet and tender, and plants that are allowed to bloom become beacons for early season pollinators.