Written by Jay Rosenberg
|
31 January 2011
Red Russian Kale
Brassica oleracea var. acephala
ORDER: BRASSICALES | FAMILY: BRASSICACEAE
Red Russian Kale is an all-star veggie that grows well all around San Francisco. This article would hopefully be more interesting, but doesn't necessarily have to be very long. Ideally, it will talk about the species, its habitat, and the characteristics listed below. Especially how it relates to Hayes Valley and Hayes Valley Farm. For now, you can find more info about this plant here.
- Perennial, Biannual or Annual: Annual
- Physical description (e.g., flower color, size, etc.): Green kale with reddish veins and purple ting to the leaves.
- Edible use: Raw in salads, steamed in stir fry, sauteed with garlic and olive oil over pasta or with sausage, goes well with sweet onions and pine nuts.
Kale is extremely high Vitamin A, C, K, high in calcium, potassium and manganese.
- Subjective flavor description:Slightly bitter raw but mild when cooked.
- Recipe(s): The Red Russian Kale smoothie is going to be the next big thing, just wait. Below, there's talk of sauteeing the kale with garlic and then adding vinegar.
- Seed or Cutting source: The Kitchen Garden was able to get some starts from Sloat Garden Center.
- Propagation (e.g., seeds and/or cuttings and/or division, etc.): I used starts, one from local farmer, one from Sloat.
- Pests or Challenges:n Surprisingly pest free and hardy.
How to Grow Red Russian Kale
The Hudson Valley Seed Library said that nearly everyone has come to love kale, the sweet, super-nutritious king of leafy greens. And what's not to love? Sown in early March and transplanted in mid-April, you can begin harvesting delicate frilly leaves in late May. Sow again in late June or early July for a fall crop, which will provide leaves that turn ambrosial when sauteed with garlic and doused lightly with apple cider vinegar, salt, and pepper.
Kale likes to be transplanted--even the summer sowing--and it wastes less garden space to do so. It also gives the seedlings a head start against the flea beetles, which will happily munch on kale seedlings if eggplants and mustards are unavailable. Give the plants highly fertile soil and a spacing of twelve to eighteen inches depending on variety (dinokale will do well on the tighter side).
Photo by Bec White, May 24, 2010
These species studies are a project of the Patterns in Nature: Urban Tracking & Nature Awareness workshops at Hayes Valley Farm, every Monday at 10:30am.
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