Curly kale seeds
Why Boerenkool or Curly Kale Seeds ?..
- One of the SuperFoods
- Packed full of vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants
- Used to help people detox & fight against cancer
Eaten for over 2000 years kale is making a comeback as one of the most trendiest and healthiest foods.
As one of the brassicas ‘curly kale’ is very popular due to it’s health benefits – packed full of vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants it is full of healthy benefits (for example it contains more vitamin c than an orange !!)
In addition Boerenkool – Curly Kale is used to help people detox, fight against cancer and recommended as part of a healthy diet by nutritionists.
What is boernekook – curly kale?
As one of the ‘brassicas’ (such as broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, etc.) it is one of the most ‘traditional’ foods.
But if you want to grow something differently (and make some really unusual winter meals) it is very easy to grow, will look great on your allotment or vegetable garden and maybe unusually you will actually want it to freeze !!
Lots of varieties…
There are very many different types of Boerenkool – Curly Kale you can use in your boerenkool – for example there are
- varieties you can harvest early,
- some that are very dark,
- some are darkpurple in colour on the allotment and turn dark green when cooked
- and some that are than 1 meter high.
The Curly Kale (F1 Reflex)
We especially like the F1 reflex curly kale seeds because you can use it in the summer in a salad using the tasty ‘baby’ leaves and in the winter as part of the boerenkool dish. (Available from suttons )
How to grow boerenkool – curly cale
Most brassicas (like kale) require good quality soil – try to add compost in the winter months to get the best possible yealds.
But the advantage of curly kale (like F1 reflex) is that it’s a ‘less demanding’ crop and you can get away with poorer soil.
You can either pre-sow under glass in March or sow them outside from April. They tolerate both full sun and semi-shade and will germinate in about 10 days
Like all seeds they are very popular to birds you will need to protect them until they reach about 30 cm high.
Or of course you could really ‘show off’ and go for the ultimate bedding like the one from Harrod Horticultural (shown right)
Curly Kale is worth showing off !!
Harvesting..
You can harvest early sown curly kale in the autumn months, or late sown curly kale in the winter months.
It will taste best if eaten the same day it’s harvested (but you can freeze the leaves)
How to how to prepare curly kale (boerenkool)
The most popular method is to cook a very filling ‘hearty’ meal fit for a working farmer (hence the name boer = farmer in the title !)
However (because of it’s health benefits) more and more people are simply using it steamed or blanched’. For example using at as an ingredient with stir fried with herbs, combined with sauteed potatoes or as part of a salad.
For more details & a step by step video have a look at
How to prepare boerenkool / curly kale