• Post Reply Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic
permaculture forums growies critters building homesteading energy monies kitchen purity ungarbage community wilderness fiber arts art permaculture artisans regional education skip experiences global resources cider press projects digital market permies.com pie forums private forums all forums
this forum made possible by our volunteer staff, including ...
master stewards:
  • Carla Burke
  • Nancy Reading
  • John F Dean
  • r ranson
  • Jay Angler
  • paul wheaton
stewards:
  • Pearl Sutton
  • Leigh Tate
  • Devaka Cooray
master gardeners:
  • Christopher Weeks
  • Timothy Norton
gardeners:
  • thomas rubino
  • Matt McSpadden
  • Jeremy VanGelder

Giant Kale

 
Posts: 9
2
3
  • Likes 4
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
We planted some Red Russian Kale (I know, not giant) that produced a profusion of greenery the first year, overwintered, sprouted (think broccolini) and releafed in the spring and produced a bounty of seeds that left kale coming up all over the yard. It's easy to hoe the unwanted and just leave those desired for greens and sprouts. The original seeds were purchased in 1988 and haven't bought any since. Seems not to cross with the multitude of mustards we grow and we get to eat it pretty nearly all year 'round.
 
Posts: 109
Location: SW New Mexico, 5300'elevation, 18" precip
29
goat hugelkultur forest garden chicken greening the desert homestead
  • Likes 6
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
These are two kale varieties that have grown tall for me. They have overwintered in New Mexico and grown 6 foot tall at least. Thousand headed gets a lot of side shoots and I have a few plants that have gone through their second winter, unprotected outside with the lowest temp down to 5 degrees.

Thousandhead Kale
Ancient variety from the UK was mentioned in Vilmorin’s The Vegetable Garden in 1885 as a productive, multi-branching type that also goes by the name “branching borecole”. Vilmorin also mentions that the variety originally hailed from western France. Peter Miller of Kings Seed mentioned that Thousandhead kale was long appreciated in the UK as a fodder crop, but it has been re-discovered as a tasty culinary variety. Leaves are smooth with lightly curled edges for easier pest management. Those who have struggled with cabbage worms understand how caterpillars love to hide in the folds of curly kale leaves. This variety is just lightly curled at the edges, making caterpillars easier to spot and treat! This seed was sourced from Kings Seed of England; the King family has been in the seed business for centuries. John Kemp King began selling seeds in 1793; his grandson Ernest William began Kings Seeds, and it has been in business for 130 years! Kings Seed is the last remaining horticultural wholesale seed house left in England and still a family affair. Miller has worked for the company 55 years, and his grandfather also worked for Kings since 1913( from Baker Creek Heirlooms)


Groniger Kale

Brassica napas Open Pollinated  Heirloom 50 days. Grows 6" to 6'
Dutch heirloom grown and eaten for centuries in central Holland. Young leaves are flat with tender, juicy red stems. These may be harvested in spring when about 6" and continue harvesting through the spring and on into winter. Grow as you would other kales.
Use in salads, stir-frys, soups etc. and enjoy the fine taste of this winter hardy variety that bears a resemblance to Red Russian but more tender and juicier  leaves. When we grow this plant it is a sampling of medieval food. Thank you to Carol Deppe for introducing it to us. ( from Nichols Nursery)
DSC04983.JPG
sequoia and the thousand headed kale
sequoia and the thousand headed kale
 
gardener
Posts: 950
Location: Galicia, Spain zone 9a
249
2
dog duck chicken cooking food preservation fiber arts pig bike bee solar ungarbage
  • Likes 2
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Everybody grows this here. I often see my neighbour walking back from her huerto with armfuls of the stuff. That and 'gruelos' - turnip greens.
 
Posts: 13
Location: Raleigh, NC (zone 7b)
3
2
kids urban homestead
  • Likes 1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator

Luke Perkins wrote:I recently started a website dedicated to spreading plant material and information about purple tree collards. They can reach over ten feet tall and are hardy down to around 20° F (-7° C). Depending on how you pruned it I think you could definitely get a walking stick out of one. I will try to take some photos of the trunks on one of our older tree collards tomorrow. They are probably over two inches in diameter. Our crop of dino kale that we planted last summer overwintered and was about three to five feet tall before going to seed last month.



Your website is awesome, and I am DEFINITELY trying this plant out on our new homestead! I'm wondering. We live in Raleigh, NC (zone 7b/8a), and I'm trying to think if I could manipulate a microclimate that could help it survive the winter. Do you think one of those fabric tree covers would help it? Or even just keeping it out of the wind? I would rather not have to move it. If this works, I want to plant a LOT of them as fodder for animals. Our homestead is only .94 acres, but I want to grow as much as we can to support the animals both for health, environment, and reducing feed costs. This seems like a really good possibility since i know some folks grow microgreens or sprouted grains as animal food. Maybe this could work too!
 
Posts: 68
Location: Unincorporated East Bay Area, CA
17
dog forest garden fungi
  • Likes 1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator

Alice Tagloff wrote:http://www.anniesannuals.com/plants/view/?id=3600
Has a 'Richmond’s Pride’, a purple 'tree collard' that grows to 6-10' and 3' wide.



Wow, thanks for this! Annie's is my local nursey. Now I know what to plant in my dedicated greens bed!
 
Posts: 50
Location: SF Bay Area, California, USA
14
5
hugelkultur forest garden chicken woodworking composting ungarbage
  • Likes 1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator

r ranson wrote:When I was young, I use to love the story of the giant kale.  My father grew up in Wartime England and the rationing that followed, and I've always loved listening to what life was like back then.  He lived in the country, not far from London, and remembers walking past the different crops on his way to school.  Through the gaps in the hedgerow, he would see the Mangelwurzel and the fodder kale.  Fodder kale, he told me as he tucked me in at night, was like being in a forest.  Great stocks, sometimes up to 12 foot heigh, as thick as your leg, and big broad leaves.  The kids played hide and seek among the kale, much to the farmer's dismay.  

It is my dream to grow Giant Kale something like this:


image borrowed from here


What is Giant Kale?  I'm not sure yet.  I would like it to be about 6 foot tall by the first fall, and be delicious for feeding humans and animals during the winter.  I imagine as the lower leaves are harvested, a forest of kale trunks, with a canopy of massive leaves above.  Maybe between the kale, could grow some over-winter pulses or grain.  In the spring, I chop the kale stocks for animal feed or to be chipped into mulch, and the grain or pulse can take off.  The leaves of the kale are so high, the sun could still get at the plants beneath them, because our sun is so low in the sky during the winter.  But maybe, having that canopy would slow the changes in temperature in the soil.  That's what I imagine for Giant Kale.  

Until I find my Giant Kale, let's call any kale that grows over 5 foot high in the first year and has large leaves, giant.

One day, while idly flipping through a Thomson & Morgan seed catalogue, I discovered Giant Jersey, or walking stick kale.  The leaves from this kale were very tasty when young.  The animals love it too.  The fodder kale stocks use to be crushed for animal feed in the winter in England.

These also make the most amazing kale chips.

I saved some seeds from those plants.  I think our weather was just a bit too dry in the summer and too wet in the winter for this variety of kale.  It grew well enough, but it didn't thrive like I had hoped.  But it was enough of a success to make me want to grow more.  So I'm looking for a kale that grows tall, fast, and has sweet flat leaves that will feed both us and the livestock.  

Here's a few varieties I've come across.  

Richters SeedZoo
 has a kale that looks promising, called Pilgrims Kale

This is a giant kale that came to the Americas from Spain centuries ago, presumably with early settlers. It became a family heirloom that is still passed on from generation to generation. It can get up to 5ft (1.5m) tall, and even taller when it flowers. SeedZoo contributor, Lorraine Collett, says that the leaves get so big they look like an elephants ear. Imagine leaves that get up to 20in/50cm long and 12in/30cm wide! The leaves can be used in soups, stews, stir-fries and can be used like cabbage leaves to make meat rolls. Hummingbirds love to visit the yellow flowers. If the flowers are allowed to set seeds, the plant will reseed itself where winters are mild. Easy to grow. Happily grows as a spring-planted annual where winters are more severe.



Baker Creak has three varieties that look promising: Forage Kale Proteor, Marrow Stem Kale, and Tronchuda Kale.  They may or may not turn out to be Giant Kale, but they look like a good selections of genetics to start a breeding project with.  


Does anyone out there have a giant kale they love?  Anyone else growing the stuff?  Do you have a seed source you could share?




The kale leaves you have in the picture look like the perennial tree collard we have here. They turn purple and sweet in the cold months. They grow tall after a few years and twisty and easy to propagate from stems; and it grows fast.

https://anniesannuals.com/plants/view/?id=3600

I’m trying to cut them back short periodically to see if I can grow a stronger trunk. Our chickens love them. I’ve cooked it multiple ways, with ham hocks, salt pork, into pesto ... and wraps. I’ve also started blanching the stems to eat with dips; currried with coconut cream. I read someone made it into Saag. I’m gonna try that.
And Kale chips. I wonder how they’d turn out in the Sun Oven?

I’ve also grown Kale “Pentland Brig’ . I started a new one Last fall from seeds that I got from Adaptive Seeds. The label says only 2 ft. But my old one that died from harlequin bug infestation (my bad, it was planted where I couldn’t observe it regularly), grew at to least 5 ft.

The leaves of those were (and are) definitely curlier than the ‘Richmond’s Pride’ tree collard.


image.jpg
Kale ‘Pentland Brig’
Kale ‘Pentland Brig’
 
gardener
Posts: 1958
Location: British Columbia
1116
3
monies home care forest garden foraging chicken wood heat homestead ungarbage
  • Likes 7
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Walking Stick Kale from Baker Creek Seeds

Walking Stick Kale from Baker Creek Seeds

Baker Creek: Heirloom Seeds
 
pollinator
Posts: 3102
Location: Meppel (Drenthe, the Netherlands)
1024
dog forest garden urban cooking bike fiber arts
  • Likes 4
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I do have one 'walking stick kale' plant. But it didn't become as giant as I hoped. Only about a meter high (3 feet?). The leaves are not as tasty as the other kales I know (like curly kale and cavolo nero).
I suppose I didn't make a photo of it. I can't find't any.
I do have photos here of my perennial kale, which has about the same leaves, but doesn't grow that high.
kale leaves last winter

kale leaves last winter
perennial kale in a new garden bed (2019)

perennial kale in a new garden bed (2019)
 
gardener
Posts: 1909
Location: Longbranch, WA Mild wet winter dry climate change now hot summer
466
3
goat tiny house rabbit wofati chicken solar
  • Likes 1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator

Chelsea Hartweg wrote:
Your website is awesome, and I am DEFINITELY trying this plant out on our new homestead! I'm wondering. We live in Raleigh, NC (zone 7b/8a), and I'm trying to think if I could manipulate a microclimate that could help it survive the winter. Do you think one of those fabric tree covers would help it? Or even just keeping it out of the wind? I would rather not have to move it. If this works, I want to plant a LOT of them as fodder for animals. Our homestead is only .94 acres, but I want to grow as much as we can to support the animals both for health, environment, and reducing feed costs. This seems like a really good possibility since i know some folks grow microgreens or sprouted grains as animal food. Maybe this could work too!


This was posted last year. Did it work for you? I am in the same hardiness zone so it should.  I ate leaves from winter hardy kale all winter and the plants produced abundant seeds the next summer. I even harvested frozen leaves for fresh use. This last summer I harvested 3 pounds of seed + a bin full of pods that I have not winnowed yet. The chickens crave the kale for the sulfur in it to make the yolks in their eggs. Problematic for feeding milking animals because it flavors the milk.
 
steward
Posts: 3435
Location: Maine, zone 5
1983
7
hugelkultur dog forest garden trees foraging food preservation cooking solar seed wood heat homestead
  • Likes 3
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Here's a picture from Baker Creek of their Thousandhead Kale:
picture from Baker Creek of their Thousandhead Kale:


Sold out before I could order some...drats!
 
Posts: 315
58
3
  • Likes 4
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I am not a big kale fan due to taste but the vitamins are not to be missed. Sooooo....

I dehydrate the leaves, grind them into a powder then add the result liberally into any casseroles we make for dinner. Small amounts in most soups are good too.
 
Posts: 13
Location: Rockingham County, VA
  • Likes 1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Could someone please give an update on growing giant kale? Success or failure? (Actually, it sounds a bit like tomato trees.)
 
steward & author
Posts: 38703
Location: Left Coast Canada
13796
8
books chicken cooking fiber arts sheep writing
  • Likes 2
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I've been working mostly on survival the first few generations, but am now culling for size and shape.  Probably be a few more generations before I can get to my dream kale.
 
gardener
Posts: 570
Location: Central Texas
239
hugelkultur forest garden trees rabbit greening the desert homestead
  • Likes 3
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I ordered the Thousand Head and Walking Still Kales from Baker Creek this spring to try to breed giant kale. So far, I've only done a couple of 6 packs of each, but noticed the seedlings haven't been nearly as vigorous as the Siberian or Russian kales I usually plant (especially the walking stick). They were very vulnerable to snails & caterpillars when I set them out to harden, and I lost a few of each. Since then, I've potted them in larger containers & fertilized them with comfrey and urine tea in hopes of getting some size on them before I plant them out to be at the total mercy of the pests.
If they don't live or produce this spring, I'll probably try the rest of the seeds for the fall garden.

I'm still hoping to try the tree collards one day. They sound fantastic.
  • Likes 4
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
If you want a way to use your kale without having to deal with the taste, and have it go easy on your gut; you can dehydrate it and grind it to a powder, for use in fruit smoothies, Soups and stews etc; all the goodness without the strong taste or strong effect of the plant fibers. Palatable and more easily absorbed.
 
steward
Posts: 3724
Location: Moved from south central WI to Portland, OR
987
12
hugelkultur urban chicken food preservation bike bee
  • Likes 4
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I got a perennial kale at Portland Nursery a few years ago, and it's both lovely and delicious.  I harvest by pruning off branches, then I pull all the large leaves and leave the littlest leaves on the very end.  Then I find a nice spot and just make a deep hole (like with a stick) and stick the almost leafless stem in there.  It makes a new plant almost every time.

My hugelkultur berm at Ten O'Clock Acres has over a dozen, because when I planted the sticks I figured only some of them would survive.  I was wrong - they all did!
-UN-L-I8SS6KSn9qm4GwZA.jpg
variegated perennial kale
variegated perennial kale
 
pollinator
Posts: 534
Location: Ban Mak Ya Thailand Zone 11-12
215
forest garden fish plumbing chicken pig
  • Likes 4
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
In East Frisia, a region in Northern Germany near the Netherlands border my Parents in law and almost every neighbor is growing this giant Kale.
Traditional after the first frost (otherwise it is tasting bitter) there is almost in every village the traditional "Gruenkohlessen" and weh you look under "Kochbar.de" for original ostfriesischer Gruenkohl then you will find recipes that are far from this world.
There is nothing what you can compare with Giant Kale cooked with smoked meat, Sausages and the special for this tradition prepared "Pinkel" sausage...

Here you will find more about this delicious tradition:

https://www.thespruceeats.com/gruenkohl-pinkel-kale-kale-sausage-recipe-1447074

 
Greg Martin
steward
Posts: 3435
Location: Maine, zone 5
1983
7
hugelkultur dog forest garden trees foraging food preservation cooking solar seed wood heat homestead
  • Likes 2
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Julia's lovely perennial kale image:
Variegated perennial kale from Portland Nursery
 
gardener
Posts: 887
Location: Southern Germany
525
kids books urban chicken cooking food preservation fiber arts bee
  • Likes 3
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator

Srikham Hesenius wrote:
There is nothing what you can compare with Giant Kale cooked with smoked meat, Sausages and the special for this tradition prepared "Pinkel" sausage...


A friend of my daughter chose to have a traditional Grünkohlessen for her birthday (her parents are from the North of Germany). My daughter ate it out of politeness, but she was not convinced
I guess you have to grow up with certain dishes in order to cherish them. Kale or collards were not eaten in my family (much less in Argentina, home of my husband).

But I have added more veggies (into garden and diet) from the brassica family over the last two years or so, not only radishes but Asian greens and Red Russian, sprouting broccoli, white and red cabbage and sweetheart cabbage and similar.

I have only recently learned that some people manage to keep their kale perennial (mostly in milder regions of Germany and lately with the mild winter), and there is also a perennial kale that you can buy from nurseries or get from seed exchange groups, but I am not enthusiastic enough for that!

EDIT: Adding some pictures for your amusement.
Here is a picture of an inthronisation event for the "Kale King", in this case the head of the German Green Party, Robert Habeck. coronation inthronisation event of
(In other years the kings, vice-kings, sultans etc. had an immigration background)

In several of our Northern "counties" the Grünkohlessen is a real event, groups of (young) people walk throuh the countryside with the "kale palm" and a little wagon full of food and spirits: Grünkohlessen where groups of (young) people walk through the countryside with the

Last picture is a cartoon, where the chef says "Now where are those giant loads of kale you promised for my TV cooking show?"
cartoon, chef says

(As I am located in Bavaria this whole setting is almost as exotic for me as it is for you!)

 
Posts: 914
33
  • Likes 1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Greetings! I wanna find out if there are giant kale from the French and British settlers so far, cause I'm doing some stuff to remember history in Illinois country centuries back. Could you all find me some heirloom kale that have been growing during the 1700s and 1800s? Thanks!
 
See Hes
pollinator
Posts: 534
Location: Ban Mak Ya Thailand Zone 11-12
215
forest garden fish plumbing chicken pig
  • Likes 2
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator

Blake Lenoir wrote: Greetings! I wanna find out if there are giant kale from the French and British settlers so far, cause I'm doing some stuff to remember history in Illinois country centuries back. Could you all find me some heirloom kale that have been growing during the 1700s and 1800s? Thanks!



The origin of Kale is actually found in the Mediterranean History and first information were found in scripts dated 400 BC.

The Greeks and Romans ate it 300 BC.

One of the earliest proofs of the cultivation of kale in Germany comes from a picture by the botanist Leonhart Fuchs from 1543.

And because of the Fact that the British are mainly Germans (Anglo-Saxons) and many Europeans moved into the new world America 1800 we have pretty rough path how the Kale was travelling around the world.
A more precise documentation is not possible probably because of the fact that kale was nothing special and common and poor people couldn't read and write.

In East Frisia we call it also the Oldenburg Palm Tree and it could be estimated that this name has a long history as well, because the Romans used the Palm Kale which had less curly leafs.
An Offspring or even the mother of the historical kales could be the still common "Cavolo nero" from northern Italy.
Old European kale breeds needs the first frost to turn from bitter to it's famous sweet taste which is not the case by the "cavolo nero" or also called the "nero de toscana"

In Germany is Jan Fleischfresser a Name when it comes to historical Kale.
Jan has got hand on a bag of seed from his Grandfather and is now the only one who grows a historical kale "Lippische Palme" which was common in the 17th Century in Germany which makes him pretty famous.
His Company is: Rhabio GmbH and Co.Kg in Kalletal (Germany)

The last conserved historical kale which has never been changed is the "Red Palm" which is only growing on the Island Heligoland in the North sea.

I would also say that my home area East Frisia is the place where you will find the most historical heirloom kales especially from the 17th and 18th century.
But the problem here is, that nobody can say what he/she is growing.
From Rabbit and Sheep fodder over "the breed that even generations before Grandmother grew" would be the most likely answer you got here from any home garden owner uses to make him standing off the crowd.

Beside said:
For people who want to survive the next mass extinction or any doomsdays:
Kale is well known to have a germination rate of 85% even after 30 years of proper storage and even after a century there is still a chance that some kale plants will pop up.

Nowadays via social networks you find many groups and if you make a contact you will get sure somebody willing to swap or send you some seeds.
 
Blake Lenoir
Posts: 914
33
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Where East Frisa? Did the kale get imported to Europe to other language speaking peoples such as the Italians, French, Spanish, Scandinavians, others? I'm looking for well tasting kale from the French in the 17th century to fit into my Midwest U.S garden at my community farm in Chicago. I did what I could to find out which vegetables and stuff fit into New France and Illinois country in the 1600s and 1700s, but the search was much complex. Any historic sources on French settler crops?
 
See Hes
pollinator
Posts: 534
Location: Ban Mak Ya Thailand Zone 11-12
215
forest garden fish plumbing chicken pig
  • Likes 1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator

Blake Lenoir wrote:Where East Frisa? Did the kale get imported to Europe to other language speaking peoples such as the Italians, French, Spanish, Scandinavians, others? I'm looking for well tasting kale from the French in the 17th century to fit into my Midwest U.S garden at my community farm in Chicago. I did what I could to find out which vegetables and stuff fit into New France and Illinois country in the 1600s and 1700s, but the search was much complex. Any historic sources on French settler crops?



I guess that the Romans were the people who introduced the Kale into other areas.
The old kales had a red stem and flat leaves about 150cm tall and came from the Mediterranean countries like Greece and the Roman Empire.

The East Frisians were a bunch of tribes and settlements along the North sea coast partial Dutch (West Frisians) and Germans (East Frisians) and our last Frisian King was Redbad +719 AD, after the Bishop Dom Munster Christianized the hoards after heavy fights.

Romans had also their share which ended with the Battle of the Teutoburger Forest where the Frisians united with the Cherusci Tribes lead by a Roman Officer Arminius who was a German and completely wiped out the Legions led by Publius Quinctilius Varus.

Somehow I guess the kale played an important role in times of the Roman Empire hence it must have been also introduced to France.

In East Frisia it is so famous that every Winter the southern Germans travelling with Bus loads of Visitors to Aurich, Emden, Osnabruck and especially Oldenburg for the traditional Grunkohl essen.
(Green Kale Eating) Important is that the Pinkel Sausage, Cured and fresh pork meat goes along with it.

(Pinkel is a smoked (German: Grützwurst), type of sausage. It is eaten mainly in northwest Germany, especially the region around Oldenburg, Bremen and Osnabrück as well as in East Frisia and Friesland.)

As Toddler I remember that we were hiding within the Kale Gardens as the Plants were taller than we kids were.
Most stems were already green and only a few neighbors had red stems and were reddish leafed.

Because of the fact that the kale needed the first frost before picking it was standing over winter and picked on demand.
In spring after bolting new seeds have been harvested which are inherited this way from generation to generation within each individual family.
I cannot remember that anyone has bought packed seeds or asked for a share from the neighbor, kale seeds were just in every family and each type had his own story like Grandpa's Grandpa got it from Village XXX in his early years and so on.
 
I am quite sure that when it comes to green kale, brown kale, french kale .... we are eating almost all from the same Roman Plate.
 
Blake Lenoir
Posts: 914
33
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Are there some vegetarian recipes for the ancient kale? You grown that Spanish one pilgrim? It posed to attractive to hummingbirds with their yellow flowers.
 
See Hes
pollinator
Posts: 534
Location: Ban Mak Ya Thailand Zone 11-12
215
forest garden fish plumbing chicken pig
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator

Blake Lenoir wrote:Are there some vegetarian recipes for the ancient kale? You grown that Spanish one pilgrim? It posed to attractive to hummingbirds with their yellow flowers.



Boil chopped Kale leaves without the ribs and a chopped onion with a sizzle of salt and nutmeg till it is soft, then thicken it with rolled oat flakes
(The juice has a lot of goodies and should not be drained off) and if you like, chop a couple of crispy fried or hard boiled eggs into it.
(so far you consider an egg as vegetarian)
Let it rest in the fridge for a day and then when everything is nicely soaked through, fry the kale with margarine in a frying pan. (Even Lard would be better but isn't veggie)
Make sure it gets a little brown when it sticks to the pan just don't burn it.
Boiled potatoes to it makes it a full meal.

If you fry it a day after again and spread it thick on a buttered sourdough bread its getting even better...

BUT, it will never be the same like a real Grunkohl Feast on a cold winter day with all these meats and you might get the impression the East Frisian kale tradition is overrated.
 
Blake Lenoir
Posts: 914
33
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Ever had kale salad before? I'm looking for more recipes without oil or salt to help combat the fat in me.
 
See Hes
pollinator
Posts: 534
Location: Ban Mak Ya Thailand Zone 11-12
215
forest garden fish plumbing chicken pig
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator

Blake Lenoir wrote: Ever had kale salad before? I'm looking for more recipes without oil or salt to help combat the fat in me.



I never had kale another way than the East Frisian way.
Shining with fats, salted and only in the winter times.

Even a recipe using smoked tofu I know about but it wouldn't be an option for me to cook it.

Beside this, since I am living in tropical climate I have to rely either to get some tins from my kids in Germany or I am lucky enough to find a local supply which cost me around 5 bucks per can/glass.
I wouldn't try to cook it different as I learned.
Kale is really for some people only a goat and rabbit food and for others a top of the notch meal.
The only way is to try some ideas and say by yourself if you like it or not.

I only know as soon I open the can or glass I can't hold back to dig the fork in hand have a mouth full. It tastes also great right out of the can, at least for me.
If you get hold of a can of kale you should try it as cold it comes out of the can and then ask your taste buds how to ennoble it your way.
 
Blake Lenoir
Posts: 914
33
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
How did the Romans and Greeks ate their kale? I'm looking to make my recipes the ancient way Mediterranean style without the meat, dairy, eggs, salt, sugar or oil cause I'm cutting back on that stuff to help reduce body fat that's already there.
 
gardener
Posts: 4039
Location: South of Capricorn
2148
dog rabbit urban cooking writing homestead ungarbage
  • Likes 1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
two ways we eat various types of kale/collards (I grow them both and prepare them essentially the same way) that might work for you is either raw and shredded really thin/chiffonade and seasoned with whatever spices work for you (cumin and lemon?) or ripped up and massaged with some sort of citrus/acid dressing (can be without any oil, important is to get it massaged).
Surely the ancient romans stewed the heck out of it (maybe the origin of Portuguese Caldo Verde), maybe put some fish sauce on it.
 
Blake Lenoir
Posts: 914
33
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Is the historic one from the Romans still available in some specialities? I'm looking for the mother type of all kales that has more historic taste to grow in my gardens and came from the European settlers who brought them to the Americas. Out!
 
out to pasture
Posts: 12507
Location: Portugal
3385
goat dog duck forest garden books wofati bee solar rocket stoves greening the desert
  • Likes 3
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I sent a load of perennial Portuguese galega seed over to the states once in the hope that it would be distributed and at least someone would save seed and share it around. *Someone* ought to have some still!

perennial Portuguese galega kale seed
 
Blake Lenoir
Posts: 914
33
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Could these be used in stir fry, salads, soup, sandwiches and stuff from a perennial type? Are these drought and cold hardy plants?
 
Burra Maluca
out to pasture
Posts: 12507
Location: Portugal
3385
goat dog duck forest garden books wofati bee solar rocket stoves greening the desert
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
They tend be described as having a 'robust' flavour!

More tender and sweet in the winter. They can be a bit too powerful for stir-fries in the summer, especially in hot, dry climate.

They're pretty drought friendly, though they will grow more leaves if you keep them watered. Our temperatures fall to about minus 5 C in the winter, with some brief spells a bit lower.
 
See Hes
pollinator
Posts: 534
Location: Ban Mak Ya Thailand Zone 11-12
215
forest garden fish plumbing chicken pig
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator

Burra Maluca wrote:I sent a load of perennial Portuguese galega seed over to the states once in the hope that it would be distributed and at least someone would save seed and share it around. *Someone* ought to have some still! quote]

Hi Burra,

this is sure one of the older types of kale as it was described also in my experiences above. Some neighbors grew them green and some still had the red (ish) color.
Also the size corresponds with the Roman kales if I would estimate you are around 175 cm tall.

The description it would be a little too herb to eat it without having had the first cold day (frost) suits an old heirloom kale tailor-made.

If Blake wants to get a guaranteed mother of kales he need to consult a Scientologist, some DNA/carbon tests and what ever more necessary to stipulate that this is the kale the Romans spread all around Europe which made the its journey around the world.

Even my Family Name ends with "ius" which makes me a partial Roman I have no clue how they were cooking their kale 1000 Years ago, but I guess it would be not much different like my Grandmother did, as her Kale was a living offspring of the Roman kale as much as I am. And she never bothered to make kale a salad or asked me to become a vegetarian.
As an Omnivore at the begin of the food chain I loved her kale in the traditional form including all sorts of meat and it was hard waiting time in autumn for the first frosty day to turn the kale sweet.

 
Blake Lenoir
Posts: 914
33
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I'd like some help in searching for the right ones for my garden in the central United States from the French and British settlers who came to the country by ship. I'm for some that I could use for my salads, stir fries, soups, stews and to draw pollenators year in and year our in the short term while trying to preserve the historic outlook of my garden in my community to tell a better story of what it and my region are all about.
 
pollinator
Posts: 1244
Location: Chicago
423
dog forest garden fish foraging urban cooking food preservation bike
  • Likes 1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I married into a Greek-American family.  somewhat tender greens like dandelion and beet greens may be served boiled and dressed with lemon juice or vinegar, olive oil, and garlic. (a boiled salad).

Here is website by a woman of Greek heritage listing the commonly foraged greens and how they are cooked. Interesting that many of these are naturalized “weeds” in the Midwest now.

Horta greens by Diane Kochilas

Sturdier greens could be boiled until soft, then stuffed with grains or meat, like classic dolmades, or else cooked, chopped, and baked in pastry with onions and herbs, like spanakopita.
 
Blake Lenoir
Posts: 914
33
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Mk! Missed you at the art show tonight. I've sold one piece of my mudpuppy to one of the folks I know from one nursery. I'm looking for somebody to help me find a mother type of kale that can fit excellently into my gardens ethnically, culturally, regionally, locally and ecologically short and long term to aid mankind and earth. Love!
 
See Hes
pollinator
Posts: 534
Location: Ban Mak Ya Thailand Zone 11-12
215
forest garden fish plumbing chicken pig
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Walking stick and thousand head kale....

I see it already boiling with a Mettwurst (Air dried sausage available in Thailand and a substitute for the missing Pinkel) Pork belly and some smoked meat....
A huge saucepan full cooked for 3 days in a row... yummy..

I found in this forum one more reason to give Baker Creek seeds next spring a try...
 
I got this tall by not having enough crisco in my diet as a kid. This ad looks like it had plenty of shortening:
Willow Feeder movie
https://permies.com/t/273181/Willow-Feeder-movie
reply
    Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic