Baby Kale - Red Russian variety, So Delicious

Red Russian Kale

It seems every magazine I read is touting the benefits of eating kale.  Last fall I grew a standard garden kale, harvested some of it and tried cooking it like spinach or adding it to vegetable soup.  It was strong and rather bitter and I ended up giving it to the cows. They loved it.  I'm still seeing the same old recipes for kale. Kale chips, kale and potato soup, kale with kielbasa, none of which inspire me very much.

But last January when I was mooning over the seed catalogs I was inspired by the Shumway catalog to order their Red Russian Kale.

The description read: "A tender, colorful variety, also used for baby kale. Purple stems with purple-veined gray-green leaves are non-curled with a tooth edge. Medium tall plants. 25 days to baby kale."

And that is the key - baby kale!  Last night I picked a handful of the young leaves and sauteed it with a little bacon and red onion and a splash of Balsamic vinegar and it was one of the best greens I've ever eaten! 



Close up of young tender kale leaves.

This is such an easy plant to grow. I planted this kale the first week of July. It was sprouted and growing within two days.  I planted spinach at the same time and it has done nothing! So far, no pests are bothering the kale.

I plan to plant more this week and maybe again the first of September with the hope that I can harvest enough to freeze for the winter. 

The leaves were very good, the stems tiny and edible, but I think next time I will chop the stems up separate from the leaves.