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  • From: Aaron Brower <aaronbrower AT yahoo.com>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] harvesting kale
  • Date: Thu, 5 Dec 2013 18:46:31 -0800 (PST)

We can go weeks without our high temps hitting 32 so I can't always wait for a thaw for harvesting. Certain crops, such as kale, can definitely be harvested frozen and stored for a long while.
Cut the stem of the kale, as you mentioned, not the individual leaves and store in the cooler as harvested. You will have no problem storing it for at least a month if the temps are 32-39 and the humidity is as high as possible. I've never stored it in water as that is not feasible at the scale I need. The kale does not turn to mush. What it will do is wilt if you don't have a high enough humidity or a cool enough temp, just like all leafy vegetables.
I had believed it would turn to mush, as that is what conventional knowledge tells us, but out of necessity I harvested frozen kale and learned it was simply not true. Now I consider it standard practice to harvest it before any big snowfalls or before it gets too cold (single digits) as that can diminish its quality. I've done the same with frozen cabbage heads and stored them through the winter.

Aaron
N. Michigan


From: Deb Taft <deb AT mobiusfields.com>;
To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>;
Subject: Re: [Market-farming] harvesting kale
Sent: Fri, Dec 6, 2013 12:35:44 AM



I think it stays best with its stems in water but can't imagine it keeping for a month.

Do be sure you wait for it to thaw before harvesting; otherwise it'll turn to mush right away.

If you want it to keep a couple more weeks, I'd leave it attached to the plant!  Harvesting (even if you did it when the leaves had thawed out, like midday on a warmer day) and storing below freezing will, again, result in mush.

As long as you aren't counting on it enough to drag out the row cover, I'd just risk leaving it in the ground and harvest when you need it if it's still in good condition.

I agree with Kurt; it likes being out there!

Deb
Mobius Fields



On Thu, Dec 5, 2013 at 7:23 PM, <clearviewfarm AT bluefrog.com> wrote:
In my humble opinion, the kale likes being outdoors if you can keep the wind off it.  I have put some Winterbor in bins in my back closed-in porch and kept it there, cold, for several days.  I don't have facts to support it, but I think storage temperature and humidity are both important in keeping kale in good condition.

Kurt Forman
Clearview Farm
Palmyra, NY 14522
Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

--- lists AT rhomestead.com wrote:

From: "Beth Spaugh" <lists AT rhomestead.com>
To: "'Market Farming'" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: [Market-farming] harvesting kale
Date: Thu, 5 Dec 2013 18:50:41 -0500

I still have some really nice looking Winterbor, Ripbor, Red Russian, and Rainbow kale in the field (zone warm 4).  It has gotten down into the single digits, but warm this week and looking good. Tomorrow still above freezing, but I am busy getting ready for weekend market and have all I need.

 

2 questions:

 

  1. In the summer/fall kale turns yellow quickly in the cooler.  Is it dormant enough now to stay green a month or more in a walkin?
  2. Next week is in the twenties.  I wonder if I cut it with an inch or so of stalk, it would thaw nicely since attached to the stalk.  Need to put stalk in water?  I’d love to leave it in the field a couple more weeks, just because tomorrow through the middle of next week it’s really busy here, and I am short on cooler space.  I could put it in the garage with outdoor temps in the twenties day, teens at night. 

 

Appreciate hearing what others have succeeded or not succeeded with.  No, at this point I am not hauling row cover out.

 

 

Beth Spaugh

Rehoboth Homestead, Peru NY

http://rhomestead.com      http://www.facebook.com/rhomestead

 

"How we eat determines, to a considerable extent, how the world is used." - Wendell Berry

"Without power over our food, any notion of democracy is empty." - Frances Moore Lappe

It's not that nice guys finish last. They have a whole different notion where the finish line is. - unknown

 

 

 

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