[JJ]

HI EVERYBODY
 I GROWN SOME KALE IN POTS AND THEY ARE GETTING BIG NOW,WHEN CAN I PUT THEM IN THE GROUND,OR CAN I KEEP THEM IN THE POTS TILL MID JUNE
 ANY ADVICE WELCOME
                                    THANKS  JJ

[Elcie]

I planted mine out at the plot last week.  They have also been netted!  They seem to be doing well at the moment.  Unless you think yours are becoming badly pot bound then there is no harm in leaving them a couple of weeks.

[JJ]

thanks elcie, think im going to put mine in at the weekend
                   thanks once again   jj

[JJ]

my curled kale are doing very well,can anybody tell me when i start picking the leafe off them thanks jj

[Beetroot queen]

We have had a full basket already, its not slowed it down at all, infact I am going to struggle to eat the amount we had, I did sweet potato and kale soup 

[allstars_princess]

Mine went into the ground in May!  I have been picking the young leaves as I need them.  I add them to pasta as a spinach substitute and my daughter loves them. 

[SnooziSuzi]

I grew this for the first time last year but didn't pick any of the leaves until winter.  It is a winter crop, after all.

I think (but I might be wrong) that if you start cropping now you will weaken the plants for winter and they won't perform so well as they won't have built up an energy reserve.  But again, I might be wrong.

one of the more experienced growers may be along soon to comment

[Rangerkris]

I had some Kale last night with my dinner, boiled for 4 mins and garlic butter added Yummy yum yum.  I will be getting more for this evenings dinner.  i have left it a bit long really as some of the leaves are a bit big to be called young but hey they were still nice. 

I grew this for the first time last year but didn't pick any of the leaves until winter.  It is a winter crop, after all.

I think (but I might be wrong) that if you start cropping now you will weaken the plants for winter and they won't perform so well as they won't have built up an energy reserve.  But again, I might be wrong.

one of the more experienced growers may be along soon to comment

I might need to sow some more i guess if this is the case .

[allstars_princess]

You are right.  It will weaken them but I love the taste so much I plant extra to use early....and some that will be eaten by the birds....and some to give away.  I think I had over 40 plants this year to start with.  If I am left with 12 by winter then I will be happy.

[corndolly]

Is it too late to put some seed in and grow plants for over winter. Would you sow the seed in the final growing position and thin out the plants or sow in pots and transplant when big enough.

Its a really useful veg and I forgot to sow the seed ,just remembered when I read this post.

[Skip]

G'Day All

I grew kale in Sydney when I lived there more than 35 years ago! Back then, my mother did all the cooking for the family and she cooked the kale with cabbage and it tasted great.

We had chooks then too, and we fed the older kale leaves to them. As you guys who have chooks will know, it's the greens fed to the chooks that color up the yolks more. In fact, what I found was that the darker the greens the more deep yellow/orange the yolks would be. Therefore, the best greens for deepening the yolk color were kale, Swiss chard, broccoli and outer cabbage leaves. There was a two-way benefit here - the chooks devoured them in no time flat and loved them, and we humans enjoyed the tastiest eggs!

Skip

[Aidy]

As you guys who have chooks will know, it's the greens fed to the chooks that color up the yolks more. In fact, what I found was that the darker the greens the more deep yellow/orange the yolks would be. Therefore, the best greens for deepening the yolk color were kale, Swiss chard, broccoli and outer cabbage leaves. There was a two-way benefit here - the chooks devoured them in no time flat and loved them, and we humans enjoyed the tastiest eggs!

Skip

Simple answer to this, Lutein. Lutein is present in all dark green and of course in egg yolk, its what gives it the yellow colour. Lutein is the natural pigment thats protects the retina in your eyes so is vital to eat your greens unless your on warfarin, as greens contain vit K which is not good.

[JJ]

picked some kale on sunday morn for dinner very nice