Kale

©Janet Allen Red Russian kale

We didn't grow kale until a couple of years ago. Then we planted some Red Russian kale and it was extremely productive.

Kale seems to be pretty resistant to insect damage and has the nice feature that it washes very easily when it is prepared for use. I was surprised one spring when the Red Russian kale that we had started late the year before, but which didn't grow large enough to harvest, appeared when the snow melted and then produced a pretty good crop before it started going to seed. The snow cover was important because the next year, when there was very little snow, none of the kale survived the winter.

©Janet Allen Baby kale growing

This is a bed of young kale.

©Janet Allen Dinosaur kale

We've also grown a dinosaur kale (Lacinato from High Mowing seeds).

This has a crinkly leaf and as the lower leaves are harvested the plant continues to grow taller and produce new leaves higher up on the stem. This seems to be a better option for freezing than the Red Russian kale.