Kale Donation Tracker

Quick Links: How & Where to Grow | Temperature | How to Care For | Harvest Signs | Harvesting | Pruning | Pests | Companions | Varieties | Preservation | Recipes | Michigan Tips | Overwintering | Fun Facts

🌱 How & Where to Grow Kale:

• Start March-April or direct seed.
• Fall planting August-September – frost makes it incredibly sweet!
• Space plants 12-18 inches apart in rows 18-24 inches apart.
• Sunlight: Full sun to partial shade (4-6 hours minimum).
• Soil Type: Well-drained soil with pH 6.0-7.5.
• Soil Amendment: Moderate fertility needed – too rich causes pest problems

Kale is the ultimate hardy hero – it laughs at frost and gets sweeter with cold!

🌡️ Temperature Guidance:

Best 60-65°F. Tolerates 20°F bare, -10°F covered. Sweetens after frost.

• Optimal growth: 60-70°F, but very adaptable.
• Cold hardiness: Survives 20°F uncovered, -10°F with protection.
• Frost exposure converts starches to sugars.
• Heat above 80°F makes leaves bitter and tough.

Michigan winters are kale’s playground – it’s often the last thing standing in the garden!

💧 How to Care for:

• Consistent Moisture: Maintains tender leaves.
• Watering: 1-1.5 inches weekly for steady growth.
• Mulch: 2-3 inches to retain moisture and suppress weeds.
• Fertilizer: Light feeding monthly – too much attracts aphids.
• Support: Tall varieties may need staking in winter.

📏 Harvest Signs:

Baby: 4-5 weeks. Mature: 7-8 weeks. Pick outer leaves first.

• Kale is a cut-and-come-again crop – harvest regularly!
• Baby kale ready when leaves are palm-sized.
• Mature leaves can be as large as your hand.
• Always leave center growing point intact.

The more you harvest, the more it produces – don’t be shy!

🧺 Harvesting:

Pick from bottom up. Leave 4-5 center leaves. Morning harvest best.

• Always harvest oldest leaves first from bottom.
• Use scissors or knife for clean cuts.
• Never strip plant bare – leave growing center.
• Morning harvest when leaves are crisp.
• Wash immediately if aphids are present.

✂️ Pruning:

Remove yellowing leaves. Top for bushier growth. Spring cleanup for overwintered plants.

• Remove yellow or damaged lower leaves regularly.
• Top tall plants to encourage bushier growth.
• Spring pruning: Cut overwintered plants to 4 inches for regrowth.
• Flower stalks: Remove unless saving seeds.
• Summer trim: Cut back leggy plants by half.

🪲 Michigan Pests:

Cabbage worms, aphids on curled varieties, flea beetles.

• Cabbage worms – less problematic than on cabbage. Bt if needed.
• Aphids – gray aphids love curly varieties. Blast off.
• Flea beetles – tiny holes in spring. Row covers help.
• Largely pest-free compared to other brassicas!

🫱🏽‍🫲🏼 Companions:

Onions, garlic, herbs, marigolds, beans. Compatible with brassicas.

• Onions and garlic repel many pests.
• Herbs like dill and cilantro attract beneficials.
• Beans fix nitrogen for leafy growth.
• Beets and chard make good neighbors.
• Can grow with other brassicas unlike some.

🥬 Varieties:

Cold-hardy: ‘Winterbor’, ‘Red Russian’. Summer: ‘Lacinato’.

• ‘Winterbor’: 60 days, extremely cold hardy, frilly blue-green.
• ‘Red Russian’: 60 days, purple stems, oak-leaf shape, very hardy.
• ‘Lacinato’ (Dinosaur): 62 days, heat tolerant, bumpy leaves.
• ‘Siberian’: 60 days, extremely cold hardy, tender leaves.
• ‘Redbor’: 55 days, deep purple, ornamental and edible.

🫙 Preservation:

Freeze blanched 2½ minutes. Dehydrate for chips. Ferment.

• Freezing: Blanch 2.5 minutes, freeze in portions.
• Kale chips: Dehydrate seasoned leaves until crispy.
• Fresh storage: 1-2 weeks in crisper drawer.
• Fermented: Make kale kraut like sauerkraut.
• Smoothie packs: Pre-portion and freeze for smoothies.
• Pesto: Freeze kale pesto in ice cube trays.

🧑🏽‍🍳 Recipes:

Massaged salad with apples, white bean soup, kale chips.

• Massaged kale salad – massage with oil to tenderize.
• Tuscan white bean and kale soup.
• Kale chips with nutritional yeast.
• Green smoothies with frozen kale.
• Sautéed kale with garlic and lemon.

✋🏼 Michigan Tips:

• Grows year-round with protection.
• Fall planted kale sweetest.
• Survives winter in cold frames.
• Spring kale provides early greens.
• Michigan’s snow acts as natural insulation.
• Plant every 3 weeks for continuous harvest.

❄️ Overwintering:

• Most cold-hardy vegetable you can grow!
• Survives uncovered to 20°F, covered to -10°F.
• Use row covers or cold frames for protection.
• Mulch heavily around plants before ground freezes.
• Harvest all winter on mild days.
• Plants will resume growth in early spring.

🧠 Fun Facts:

• Grown in Antarctica.
• More vitamin C than oranges.
• “Kail” = kitchen garden in Scotland.
• Kale was the most common green vegetable in Europe until the Renaissance.
• One cup has more calcium than a cup of milk.
• Purple kale turns green when cooked.
• Ornamental kale and edible kale are the same species.
• Kale can survive and produce for 2-3 years in mild climates!