After a couple of really bad kale years, in which I barely harvested a head or two I started growing leaf kale. First I started with Nero di Toscana kale and the past year I added curly kale to my growing list. Last year was an excellent kale year, but I thought I could grow some more so this year I planted more seedlings. I didn’t go overboard I’ve planted only 10 seedlings of curly kale and 5 seedlings of Nero thinking this would be a nice amount.  

What I didn’t count on was the fact that my Nero di Toscana from last year would survive and double the number of my plants. I also didn’t count on an unusually rainy year with under-average temperatures.

In these conditions, my kale is thriving. I’ve started harvesting at the end of June and I’ve been harvesting it every 7 to 10 days. Leaves just keep on coming. I remove almost all the leaves, leaving only the top couple of leaves and in just a couple of days, there are plenty of leaves for harvest. 

Nero di Toscana grows a bit slower, with the harvest every 2 weeks, but the curly kale is driving me crazy. The freezer is full of kale, we eat it every week and it keeps on growing like mad. Yesterday I’ve harvested another 2 big bags of kale, gave my mum half of the kale and I still have enough left for at least 2 more meals. 

So for today’s lunch is of course: Kale and meat stew. 

Next year I’ll definitely grow less kale. This is just too much kale for us.