3 varieties of kale

[Happy]

I finally found 3 varieties of kale that (so far) look good!
Planted on September 2 in my Ultra:

Front row: Renee's Garden Heirloom Italian Kale, Tuscan Baby Leaf
Back row, 3 pods from the left: High Mowing Organic Seeds Dazzling Blue Kale
Back row, 1 pod on the right: Botanical Interests Italian Lacinato Nero Toscana (Thanks, Mary!)
(R&R on September 15)

Three photos below:

[Happy]

All 3 of the above seemed similar in taste and texture to me.

The same 3 varieties have been doing well in my (new!) Farm.
Planted on 9-28 with FloraNova Grow.
I just did an R&R (which is a lot of work with a Farm!) and upped the concentration of the nute from 1.0 EC to 1.5 EC. Brassicas, like kale, are supposed to like the higher concentrations... we'll see!

PS. Do any of you know why my photo has a pinkish cast?

[MaryL]

I don’t know anything about the color of the photo, but I do admire your doing an R n R so promptly, especially in such a large unit. That’s labor!

[Shawn]

Maybe it is a combination of the camera flash and the LED lights or the LEDs themselves.  Sometimes the LEDs alone can do this when taking pictures.

[Happy]

Thanks for the compliment, Mary.
This was my first R&R with my Farm, and it was a lot of work, indeed.

The reason I did it is because I'm using FloraNova Grow, which recommends weekly R&Rs. Next time I R&R with my Farm, I'll return to AG nutes.

d45692

[Happy]

All 3 varieties are doing great with the high nute concentration. (1.5 EC or 750 TDS)
Of course, I wouldn't use such high nutes with seedlings.

The taste of kale is stronger than I like in my salads. I might cut up a few leaves to put in future salads, though.
But I'll need to cook them to enjoy them. Do any of you have good kale recipes?

[nick]

I need to get some Kale into my next lettuce crop rotation. I love it so much.

[Happy]

You can put it your new non-Farm, Nick.  d45692
Your herbs, as well as kale can handle significantly higher nute levels than can lettuce.

[MaryL]

I like to sauté them with a pat of butter and add some cooked pancetta or crumbled bacon, and a few golden raisins to balance the smoky salt.  (Believe it or not, I got that from a Weight Watchers recipe.  You hardly need any of the butter, bacon or raisins because they're so flavorful.)

[Happy]

Oct 24, 2018 20:12:25 GMT -5 MaryL said:

I like to sauté them with a pat of butter and add some cooked pancetta or crumbled bacon, and a few golden raisins to balance the smoky salt.  (Believe it or not, I got that from a Weight Watchers recipe.  You hardly need any of the butter, bacon or raisins because they're so flavorful.)

Yum.
Thanks, Mary!

[serri588]

I've been mixing the kale with my other hydro greens in my salads. That way I don't get a mouthful of just kale. Glad to see you are having success with these.

[sussudio]

I’ve got some Red Russian Kale started. Unfortunately my “garden” store did not have much of a seed selection. In 2 days already the little darlings sprouting up. Using glass shot glasses instead of the plastic domes seem to encourage faster sprouting with my latest group of seeds. I’ll still have to see if the glass may “burn “ the seedlings when plants get larger and then be forced to switch back to plastic domes. Or if the glass continues to help growth.
Anyway I like to chop up and freeze my Kale and throw a bit of it into my different soups ( canned or homemade) , stir frys , spaghetti sauces, and even smoothies. Doing so is a no fuss solution for me and all the other flavor disguise any bitterness while providing nutrients.

[Happy]

 Here’s an interesting article on different varieties of kale 
www.chowhound.com/food-news/177634/ultimate-guide-to-the-different-kale-types-and-how-to-use-them/?fbclid=IwAR3iCtWjUyeTHLzIuypl5R2_MrYDusyUjcMRNEZFbv704ckKyKQYhNBaw9U

[Shawn]

Nice article

[anne]

You have such a nice little kale bunch on your pod. Do you use just one seed? I always wonder how many seeds to use.. just one or many... can you help me?