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tommyblaze
- Cool Member
- Posts: 64
- Joined: Mon Apr 06, 2015 8:49 pm
- Location: Long Island new york
winter bore kale
This is my kale from last year coming back to life. I didnt know they came back. Any tips what I should I do or just let it be.
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tommyblaze
- Cool Member
- Posts: 64
- Joined: Mon Apr 06, 2015 8:49 pm
- Location: Long Island new york
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Taiji
- Greener Thumb
- Posts: 921
- Joined: Fri Oct 05, 2012 3:19 am
- Location: Gardening in western U.P. of MI. 46+ N. lat. elev 1540. zone 3; state bird: mosquito
Out here my kale usually overwinters really well. Even with snow and ice on it. Seems to work best for me if I plant some around mid to late summer. Sometimes I can pick and eat it all winter long if the winter isn't too harsh. Mid winter kale though is a little dryer, still works in salads.
I would just pick and eat it. I've wondered too, though if when it finally starts to send up the seed stalk, if it will keep producing leaves longer if you break off the stalk? Maybe someone else knows?
I would just pick and eat it. I've wondered too, though if when it finally starts to send up the seed stalk, if it will keep producing leaves longer if you break off the stalk? Maybe someone else knows?
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applestar
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- Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
- Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)
Yep eat the leaves while they are tender and sweet -- heat will make them tougher and more "green". UNLESS you want to harvest seeds. Hm... Is Winterbor a hybrid? If you are going to harvest seeds, you should probably let the plant grow full set of leaves for maximum vigor. Kale is biennial and will bloom 2nd year then die off.
Kale flower stalks can get 4-5 ft tall -- beautiful and attracts beneficial insects. You can eat the flowers and young seed pods while tender and there will be TONS of seeds to harvest. Kale seeds are great as winter sprouts and as micro greens, and of course you can sow and grow them and expect same as mother plant if they are not hybrid variety. If they are hybrid, some traits maybe different, but I don't know how significantly.
Kale flower stalks can get 4-5 ft tall -- beautiful and attracts beneficial insects. You can eat the flowers and young seed pods while tender and there will be TONS of seeds to harvest. Kale seeds are great as winter sprouts and as micro greens, and of course you can sow and grow them and expect same as mother plant if they are not hybrid variety. If they are hybrid, some traits maybe different, but I don't know how significantly.