Kale is delicious, nutritious and often ignored
Gardening for the Prairies If you only know kale as a colourful, frilly vegetative decoration on buffets, it’s time to think again.
Now I admit that, until recently, I was among the many who didn’t give kale the kind of respect it deserves. Even though my mother always grew a bit of kale every year, I relegated it to the category of boring greenery used to cover ice cubes. But a couple of things changed my perspective. First, my wife fell in love with a certain ornamental variety and, secondly, a customer educated me on the culinary delights of baked kale. Now I’ve come to think kale is underused and underappreciated. Here are some of the reasons why.
First of all, kale is the same species as cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli and brussels sprouts, although it belongs to a different subgroup called acephela, which essentially means headless. Kale is thought to be indigenous to southwestern and Central Asia and to the Mediterranean region. Yet, despite its warm origins, kale is remarkably cold tolerant — it can be planted in mid to late April in many regions of the country. Not only can it be sowed when the weather is cool, it also easily endures sub-zero temperatures. So kale performs and looks great from early spring well into the fall when other frostsensitive plants — decorative and edible — have become crispy brown.
There are several outstanding varieties in the ornamental category. Red Bor is the one that first caught my wife’s attention and it looks great as a feature plant in a large container. It’s a tall reddish-purple variety with especially frilly leaves. Another of my favourites is dinosaur kale. As its name suggests, this type has a primeval look. It’s shorter than Red Bor and has thick, crinkled bluegreen leaves, which makes it a standout in flower beds.
Another intriguing variety is Ornamental Peacock Red, which has finely cut, deeply serrated leaves that look feather-like. The outer leaves of this kale plant are dark crimson, while the inner leaves are rose pink. It is the shortest of the bunch at 20 to 30 centimetres, about half as tall as dinosaur kale but no less spectacular.
Now when it comes to eating kale, Red Bor and dinosaur are good options (Ornamental Peacock Red is best left for show). However, one of the best edible kales is Starbor, which has frilly lime-green leaves. It grows well indoors so you can have fresh kale year round.
As many people know, kale is great in salads. But my favourite way to eat this leafy vegetable is baked. Last summer a customer gave me the scoop on kale chips when she let me know that kale leaves brushed with a bit of oil and baked make excellent chips. They’re surprisingly tasty (I was a bit skeptical), as well as nutritious. In fact, kale has become somewhat of a nutritional darling of late because of its high levels of vitamins and minerals. Mom was right all those years ago; it is good for you.
To grow your own kale, rich soil and a sunny spot are best. The only trouble you may run into is the cabbage butterfly, which is attracted to this family of vegetables. Fortunately, there is an excellent biological control for the worms called BTK, which is safe and easy to apply. You’ll also find that cool temperatures will enhance the colours, so ornamental kale will often look best in late summer and fall.
Now that you’ve discovered what I have — that kale is tasty and beautiful — the next time you hit a salad bar, you’ll be thinking the kale is on the wrong side of the bowl! To keep abreast of what’s new in the gardening world, follow www.facebook.com/
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