Kale Tips and Tricks
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There are many varieties of kale. Sue noticed that students favor Tuscan (same as Dinosaur), Red Russian, and Tree Kale (same as Tree Collards).
Tasting TipsKale is sweetest in the cool seasons, and becomes bitter and tough in the heat.
Tree Kale makes great kale chips, perhaps because it is a thicker leaf. Kale flowers are edible with a sweetness followed by a kale flavor! Broccoli flowers taste great too! |
Kale Growing and Harvesting Tips
Plant kale as soon as school starts, and into November. UC Master Gardeners Vegetable Planting Summary is a great calendar planning resource https://ucanr.edu/sites/scmg/files/30787.pdf
Plant garlic under kale to help repel aphids, which arrive when temperatures warm. (Blast them off with a spray of the hose). Summer plantings can be ready to harvest mid-October continuing through the school year - making it easy to include kale lessons for many classrooms over several months.
Harvest the lower leaves from the stalk and allow the new leaf tops to grow, and your kale will grow tall and continue to produce for many months. Tree Kale is especially hardy in my area (Windsor) and produces well for 2-3 years and is less bitter.
Plant garlic under kale to help repel aphids, which arrive when temperatures warm. (Blast them off with a spray of the hose). Summer plantings can be ready to harvest mid-October continuing through the school year - making it easy to include kale lessons for many classrooms over several months.
Harvest the lower leaves from the stalk and allow the new leaf tops to grow, and your kale will grow tall and continue to produce for many months. Tree Kale is especially hardy in my area (Windsor) and produces well for 2-3 years and is less bitter.
NUTRITION EDUCATION & COOKING SKILL CONNECTIONS
Choose one or two, depending on your class time:
- Thoughtful cooking skills practice: cutting vegetables with paring knives, using measuring spoons accurately, using a whisk and tossing salad (and keeping it in the bowl).
- Cooking vocabulary: toss, emulsify, variety (in a family of vegetables).
- Recipe reading and what to look for: Ingredients, Instructions, Servings, Nutrition Data.
- Practical Math: Identify measuring spoons (tablespoon, teaspoon, etc) and their fractions.
- Show students nutrition facts on kale and pomegranates, focus on vitamin C and why it’s important to eat foods with vitamin C to remain healthy. (link)
- Use pictures to identify the variety of vegetables in the brassica family (kale, broccoli, collards, cauliflower, Brussel sprouts, cabbage), their plant parts that we typically eat, and talk about the evolution of these varieties.
- Distribute the recipe for students to take home. Great salad for the holidays!
Student participation tips and ideas:
- Always wash and dry hands before handling or eating food. While preparing food, wear a mask. Older students and adults should wear food safety gloves too.
- Confirm food preparation is allowed in the classroom or garden setting at your school. If preparing food to share is not an option, ask if each student would be allowed to prepare their own salad. In this scenario, each student is given a kale leaf to prepare on their plate and the teacher demonstrates and distributes the other ingredients following COVID-safe food prep guidelines.
- Handling paring knives is not recommended for students younger than 3rd grade.
- Cutting the kale into ribbons in this recipe can be used as an introduction to using kitchen knives, in combination with step by step instructions in handling and using knives safely. The recipe can be made by tearing the kale leaf into small pieces too.
- Prepare the kale: if kale has thick stems, strip each side of the leaf from the stem, to have two leaf halves. Roll each leaf up into a tube shape, and holding one end of the tube on the cutting board or plate, make thin slices across the roll to make “ribbons”. (Tip: Many students enjoy eating the leftover stems!)