Why grow baby kale?

Baby kale is an easy to grow and nutritious leafy green that is highly versatile. It can be eaten raw in salads, or added towards the end of cooking to stir-fries, soups, stews or curries. If you grow it quickly with good nutrition, and avoid the hottest months of the year, it is relatively pest-free. 

How to grow baby kale 

Because it grows quite quickly, baby kale is best direct-seeded where it is to grow. Prepare a seed bed with loose soil, enriched with compost, and sow the seed twice the width of the seed deep. Keep it moist until germination and then water as needed. Baby kale grows quickly, and like other leafy greens it likes a weekly or fortnightly dose of liquid fertiliser.

How to harvest baby kale

Harvest by cutting the young leaves off just above the growth point where they shoot from the stem. Don't cut below this or your kale won't grow back and produce more leaves for harvest the following week. If harvested correctly and fed regularly the plants should produce for about 6 weeks. Remove any older leaves that have turned yellow regularly. 

Still to come

Next time I will talk about growing asparagus.  

This week's recipe links

Lentil Soup from Love & Lemons. 

Crunchy Cheesy Cabbage Bake from Hungry Happens. 

Spinach and Chickpeas from Spanish Sabores. 

Bok Choy Stir-Fry from Love & Lemons. 

More info

To read more about what's happening on our local organic farm this week as we grow and care for veggies for our box delivery, check out this week's newsletter here.