When early spring arrives, it’s hard not to get so excited and plant dozens of seeds. The problem is, all of those tiny seeds turn into plants and it’s nearly impossible to kill them (because they’re our babies!), which means they all need to be planted somewhere!
And since kale can be planted so early in the season, there is endless garden space available for these plants. This means it’s simple to go overboard planting, forgetting just how productive kale can be. And then when it’s time to plant out the heat loving plants, how could we ever pull out our amazing kale? So instead, we jam them all in together.
And what this leaves is endless kale plants, producing tons of leaves! So, if you are drowning in kale leaves, here are 9 ways to use it – from eating it fresh, to saving it for later in the season!
1: Eat it in Salads
Kale is not the first choice many people have for salads but it does make a healthy, nutritious alternative to lettuce. Or if you have some lettuce, but not enough you can always do a split. When eating kale as salad, we recommend massaging the leaves when you prepare it, to help make it less tough, and more enjoyable.
Some varieties are better for salads than others, so if this is the primary way you want to eat your kale, we recommend growing Curly varieties, or eating the kale leaves when they are still small!
2: Fry it and add to any meal
This is our favourite way of using kale. Chopped kale can be added to almost anything, from fried vegetables, to mac and cheese, or even into a gravy. Adding kale to your meal gives an added green boost of nutrients, plus uses up your harvest.
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3: Add it to smoothies
Since kale is packed full of nutrients, adding it to your smoothie is a great way to use up your harvest, and to get the health benefits. Just be mindful not to add too much or the flavour will take over your entire smoothie.
4: Add it to pancake or waffle batter
We love doing this. It is a sneaky way to get your loved ones to eat vegetables when they refuse, and it turns your sweet breakfast into a nutritious meal. To add kale to your batter, add your milk and kale together in a blender and blend it until smooth. Blending it with the milk separately will make for a smooth blend, ensuring there are no large chunks. Once you’ve blended it until no large chunks remain, you can use the milk like normal.
Similar to the smoothies, the more you add, the more you can taste, so be mindful. It will also change the colour of your batter to a light green, but they still taste great!
Continue growing your garden knowledge
- How to Protect Your Plants from Cucumber Beetles
- How to Grow Cucumbers From Seed to Harvest
- What the Calgary Water Main Break Can Teach Us In Our Gardens
- Drowning in Kale? Here are 9 Ways to Use Your Harvest!
- How to Grow Bush Beans from Seed to Harvest
5: Make kale chips
If you haven’t tried kale chips before, this is your sign! This snack is delicious, is super quick to make and you can play with the seasonings to change it up each time. These are so addictive that you will want to make more before the first batch is even done.
6: Make pesto
Move over basil, it’s kale pesto time. Next time you make pesto, sub out the basil for kale, or split it 50/50 to use up that extra kale harvest. You can use this pesto on your sandwiches or on pasta to get that burst of flavour, and enjoy your garden harvest!
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7: Freeze it
If you’ve made everything above and still have more than you can eat, store some in the freezer. Wash and cut your kale, and lay it out to dry. Once the leaves have dried you can store it in a tupperware or any freezable container to use in your next smoothie or stir fry. Having peak garden harvests in the off season is such a wonderful experience.
8: Dehydrate it
If you have a dehydrator, drying your kale is another great way to store your harvest for the off season. Dried kale can be ground into a powder which you can add to your smoothes, waffles or pancakes for the rest of the year. This is the dehydrator that we own and love. It has a lot of drying space and is made of stainless steel, making it a more sustainable and long lasting choice.
9: Give it away
Giving garden harvests away to friends and neighbours is one of the greatest joys of gardening.
“Not to brag but… I grew that”
Having fresh produce that is local and organic isn’t in reach for many people. When you gift your produce to others, you are showing them the value of gardening and what it can offer them! You can also check with your local food bank to see if they are in need of fresh produce and you can drop it off there as well. Gifting food to others is a great way to use up your excess harvests.
Enjoy your kale harvest and congratulations on having so much to harvest!
