From summer-sown plants, turned into woody canes for some time now, I’ve been harvesting curly kale and cavolo nero. See here for my brassica manifesto, http://vivekagardens.com/cavolo-nero-and-other-brassicas/.
I’m taking the tender little leaves, and where I decapitated one cavolo nero, baby leaves have sprouted which are all the tenderer. Frost sweetens kale, but we’ve maybe had only one mild frost this winter until today’s hard-looking one (as I look out the window at 8.30).
Stir-frying with other veg, particularly sweet carrots, and heating spices like ginger and a few chilli flakes, and shredding into tomatoey soups and cheesy pasta are easy ways to use kale leaves and compliment and complement their strong and bitter tastes (which are excellent for liver function).
In addition, riskily October-sown plants are now 15cm or more and are giving baby leaves.
L-R: cavolo nero heart leaves, dwarf green, red curly, curly kale (tall). There are proper variety names, but this was before my new year’s resolution to label consistently. Ahem. Enjoying the shape, texture, colour and bloom of these leaves.