Any Kale growers?

  • Thread starter true grit
  • Start date
  • Tagged users None
true grit

true grit

6,269
313
So seems Kale should be a pretty straight forward and easy crop to grow and as the fall season approaches I think i may throw down a bed or a tent worth. Anyone kale fans? Any specific types that are better? Soil needs look pretty basic, any suggestions? Was considering with the low needs trying to make a vegan soil mix (for my fancy friends lol) and give em some vegan organics so i can talk a little shit. ha. Any foresight will be appreciated!
 
juniorgrower

juniorgrower

115
28
I dont eat alot of kale but I buy alot for my wifes tortoise. lol
 
true grit

true grit

6,269
313
See this stuff has nutritional value interspecies even!
 
putembk

putembk

2,665
263
So seems Kale should be a pretty straight forward and easy crop to grow and as the fall season approaches I think i may throw down a bed or a tent worth. Anyone kale fans? Any specific types that are better? Soil needs look pretty basic, any suggestions? Was considering with the low needs trying to make a vegan soil mix (for my fancy friends lol) and give em some vegan organics so i can talk a little shit. ha. Any foresight will be appreciated!
Kale is a member of the cabbage family and is considered a super food along with broccoli, collard greens, cauliflower and brussels sprouts. It is a cool weather plant and does well in both spring and fall. I grow it just like lettuce or cabbage. Good soil with a little compost is all that is needed. Nutes will cause it to flower prematurely. It will make you shit like a pigeon. ha ha
 
Chobble

Chobble

789
93
I grow lots of kale when my garden doesnt have 6 foot giants in it... I had two rows of it this spring. I also was in charge of 4 acres at the CASFA. One field was Kale. Across the board the most difficult thing about growing kale is the damn leaf borers. They will really do a number on your plants.

Chobble
 
putembk

putembk

2,665
263
Guess I'm lucky have had that problem. I get caterpillars, they love the stuff. Mine is all played out anyway. Only have 2 heads of cabbage left and the cukes and squash are full of pm and I am going to pull them this weekend. Vegetable garden is about done for the year. Don't get me wrong, have enough stuff to last most of the winter. Time to can, freeze and dehydrate.
 
2

2DogWalker

925
93
Yo tg

Pute has it right no nutes needed w a decent soil....I love kale I planted a big batch of red Russian in late July and have been reaping the benefits daily... lots of kale chips...

Pute,
My cukes n squash were harvested and ripped the hell out due to the pm....tomatoes took a beatig w the hot summer but still harvests daily...really looking forward to the Brussels sprouts coming soon along w a few of the heirloom tomatoes that look like they may still be edible by harvest....

Kale is awesome I eat it more than anything else out of my garden...cept maybe fresh beans....

Good on you bro eat healthy
2dogwalker
 
putembk

putembk

2,665
263
Tomatoes took a beating because of the heat?? How hot is it? I have never had such a crop. They loved the heat. My cages have to be supported because they are to top heavy. Only saw a few mites early. Peppers loved it to. The hotties really loved the heat as well. My jalapeños are like habaneros this year. But the pm has been horrible. Just came in from the daily harvest and know I have spores all over me. Like I said mine is coming out this weekend.
 
juniorgrower

juniorgrower

115
28
I had a bad Tomatoe year too. I usually put a bunch of fresh pig poop on my raised beds in the fall but didn't do it last fall, I think that was why my tomatoes didn't do as well this year. Got alot of nice zucchini though. And Shelled beans.
 
2

2DogWalker

925
93
Yeah my tomatoes honestly outgrew their confines to the point of overwhelmed, and were attacked by bugs because they were the only green around w the lack of early rain which didn't do me favors on multiple fronts...
My peppers were devastated I believe it was aphids of some sort....

A lot of split fruits as well...but no complaints I been canning and freezing all week....
Beans have been awesome dragons tongue are my new fav...

2dw
 
N

NorCalGrower

16
3
I love dyno kale! Red russian kale is a good one to! Stay away from ornamental kales, they taste horrible!!
 
putembk

putembk

2,665
263
I had the best veggie garden ever! Everything except the peas were a little disappointing. Spent all day yesterday harvesting horseradish and will process it and jar it today.
 
Seamaiden

Seamaiden

Living dead girl
23,596
638
My garden has been fair to middling. I dedicated WAY too much space to this Romanesco cauliflower that not only has been heavily attacked by cabbage aphids (these things are FUCKS, worst pest EVER. If I had to rely on this solely for my winter foods, I'd be well and truly fucked), but I actually don't care for the flavor of. I'd rather have 'regular' broccoli or cauliflower.

This year was slightly better for tomatoes, but not by much. Seems to be looking to be fantastic for all the different winter squashes I planted. We're having a BUMPER CROP of eggplant this year and have been trying to figure out how to preserve it. I'm thinking an antipasto, but apparently most recipes aren't acidic enough.

IF I can get the remaining cauliflowers sufficiently aphid-free, I'd like to pickle those, too, or freeze perhaps (not the Romanesco, it needs help in the flavor department). I've been soaking in salt-vinegar water, but it's not killing them all. Anyone have suggestions for cleaning the produce?

Oh, this year was also my first time growing potatoes. I didn't know when I'm supposed to harvest, so some of the tops went dry so I dug them all up. Some had been attacked by ants or something, pockmarked with little holes that have allowed molding. I'll cut out the bad bits and cook the rest.
 
GI JO

GI JO

189
63
So seems Kale should be a pretty straight forward and easy crop to grow and as the fall season approaches I think i may throw down a bed or a tent worth. Anyone kale fans? Any specific types that are better? Soil needs look pretty basic, any suggestions? Was considering with the low needs trying to make a vegan soil mix (for my fancy friends lol) and give em some vegan organics so i can talk a little shit. ha. Any foresight will be appreciated!

I bought 4 bedding plants, it's a purple kale, just tossed it into the garden. Obviously, I didn't eat enough of it because this how it looks now. It's Thanksgiving here in Canada, Oct. 8...I imagine I'll be eating this until Christmas!
Kale
 
midwestdensies

midwestdensies

2,886
263
Good info on the kale, I just planted some the other day and honestly didn't know much at all was browsing on the farm and bam here we go. Thanks farm haha. MWD
 
putembk

putembk

2,665
263
Now thats some Kale! Just finished with the horseradish, I still have broccoli, spinach, parsley, chives and beats. All else is gone, to sad. I am however ready to start concentrating on my indoor garden. Oh and I am sick of eating veggies 3 times a day. ha ha
 
cannabeans

cannabeans

1,149
163
We're having a BUMPER CROP of eggplant this year and have been trying to figure out how to preserve it.
what we do to preserve eggplant, is we make a bunch of eggplant lasagna or eggplant parmesean and freexe and save for the winter.
Oh, this year was also my first time growing potatoes. I didn't know when I'm supposed to harvest,
Here in Montana, we plant our potato's in June, and harvest at the end of September. I understand you live in Cali but I wanted to give you and idea of how long potato's take. Commercial potatos are sprayed with herbicide to kill the vines and then left in the ground for about 2 weeks. Having the plant dead makes easier harvest. Organic farmers like myself will cut the vines off and leave in the ground for 2 weeks and harvest as usual. Leaving them in the ground for those 2 weeks will help the skins "harden up"

Some had been attacked by ants or something, pockmarked with little holes that have allowed molding
Look into "wire worms".
 
Potato wireworm
Seamaiden

Seamaiden

Living dead girl
23,596
638
what we do to preserve eggplant, is we make a bunch of eggplant lasagna or eggplant parmesean and freexe and save for the winter.

Here in Montana, we plant our potato's in June, and harvest at the end of September. I understand you live in Cali but I wanted to give you and idea of how long potato's take. Commercial potatos are sprayed with herbicide to kill the vines and then left in the ground for about 2 weeks. Having the plant dead makes easier harvest. Organic farmers like myself will cut the vines off and leave in the ground for 2 weeks and harvest as usual. Leaving them in the ground for those 2 weeks will help the skins "harden up"


Look into "wire worms".
Oh...! Well... I dug some up while green still, and those didn't come clean from the dirt and I was wondering why that was. D'oh! Thanks a LOT!

So, with the eggplant I ended up making caponata, which is absolutely delicious but I did probably a bad thing in that I combined two recipes into one. 14 pints + 1 quart, and it's absolutely delicious on rosemary-olive oil sourdough bread, toasted with a spreadable cheese like chickenman's goat cheese (I've run out, need to ply him with freshly roasted coffee), any other good chevre, spreadable kefir, neufchatel or something like that. It's just awesomely good. Also, the base recipes didn't use precise amounts of eggplant, just a number of eggplants which is just fucking stupid. I can have a 3lb eggplant that's almost as big as a football, or I can have a chicken egg-sized eggplant. So that made calculating the amount of vinegar difficult, so I just went up with the vinegar in the hopes that it'll be acidic enough.



Please, Lord God and Little Baby Jesus, don't let me have made botulism. My mother would kill me! I figure if I just keep the pints refrigerated I'll be ok in any event, right?
 
GI JO

GI JO

189
63
Totally forgot about this thread. Well, my big ass kale plant survived the winter and I was able to eat from it whenever I wanted. It's spring now, take a look at the flowers it produced.

Kale
 
Top Bottom