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Quick guide:
- Grow where you have not grown cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, brussels sprouts, collards, kale, mustard, turnip or rutabaga for the past 4 years.
- Direct seed or start indoors in April.
- For fall crops, start seed indoors in June.
- If the plants are overheated or struggling to take up water, they will produce chemicals resulting in pungent or bitter flavors.
Hardy leafy greens
· Collards and kale are leafy forms of the same species as broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage. Collards produce large, smooth, thick leaves, while kale leaves are curly, ruffled or lobed on the edges.
· You can eat both collards and kale raw when the leaves are small and tender. You can cook the larger, tougher, more mature leaves, as well as stew, braise, stir-fry or even make them into kale chips.
· Both plants are cold tolerant and will continue to grow and produce new leaves well beyond the first fall frosts. Even after they have frozen, you can harvest and cook the leaves straight from the garden.
Soil
· Have your soil tested.
· A neutral soil pH of 6.0 to 7.5 is ideal.
· Apply phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) according to soil test recommendations.
· Use a low- or no-phosphorus fertilizer.
· Kale and collards do best in loamy, well-drained soil with high organic matter.
· You can achieve acceptable kale on heavier, well-drained soil.
· As long as you make sure the plants are well watered, you can do the same on sandier soils.
· Improve your soil by adding well-rotted manure or compost in spring or fall. Do not use fresh manure as it may contain harmful bacteria and may increase weed problems.
· When the plants are about 4 inches tall, apply fertilizer alongside the row of plants.
· Spread the fertilizer in a 6-inch wide band, and scratch it into the surface of the soil.
· If you use manure or compost, you may not need additional fertilizer applications, depending on how much organic matter you apply.
· Do not use any fertilizer containing a weed killer, as it may kill your vegetable plants.
Planting
- Sow seeds in the spring for an early summer crop as soon as the soil is workable.
- Direct seed again about 3 months before the average frost date for a fall crop.
- Plant seeds 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep, in rows 18 to 30 inches apart.
- Thin seedlings after they emerge allowing 8 to 12 inches between them.
Transplanting
· Start seeds indoors. Plant in early April, or about 4 weeks before transplanting.
- For fall crops, start seed in June.
- Harden seedlings by reducing water and temperature 2 to 3 days before transplanting.
- Transplant the seedlings 8 inches apart, in rows 18 inches apart.
- If you plan to harvest “baby” leaves only, space the plants as close as 4 inches apart in the row.
Watering
- The best quality of kale or collards—flavorful, tender, non-bitter leaves—results from fast growth without heat or moisture stress.
- If the plants are overheated or struggling to take up water, they will produce chemicals resulting in pungent or bitter flavors.
- One inch of rainfall per week is good.
- An inch of water will wet a sandy soil to a depth of 10 inches, a heavy clay soil to 6 inches.
- If your soil is sandy, it is better to water more often than once a week.
- Use a trowel to see how far down the soil is wet. If it is only an inch or two, keep the water running.
Care
- Frequent, shallow cultivation will kill weeds before they become a problem.
- Cultivate just deeply enough to cut the weeds off below the surface of the soil. Be careful not to damage the plants when cultivating.
- Mulching with herbicide-free grass clippings, weed-free straw, or other organic material to a depth of 3 to 4 inches can help prevent weed growth, decreasing the need for frequent cultivation.
Harvest & Storage
- Harvest single leaves as soon as they reach a usable size.
- If you harvest individual leaves at the "baby" stage, leaving most of the small leaves on the plant, multiple harvests are possible before the plants exhaust their resources.
- Alternatively, you can remove the whole plant by cutting it off at or just before the soil surface.
- For the spring crop, flavor is best if you harvest the plants before the weather becomes hot and dry.
- Heat will slow growth and leaves will become tough and strong flavored.
- For the fall crop, the cooler the weather, the better the flavor, until freezing temperatures stop growth.
- Freezing is an option if you have a particularly abundant crop.
Source:
https://extension.umn.edu/vegetables/growing-collards-and-kale#harvest-and-storage-275764
