Kale is a superfood and easy to grow

Kale is loved by us and the caterpillars, but because we love nature, the caterpillars are welcome to stay and contribute to our project’s bio-diversity.

Caterpillars are cute and you don’t see so many these days. We are monitoring our caterpillars so they don’t destroy our crop, but there’s no harm in allowing a few to stay who eat other bugs. Washing before prepping is essential of course. Add a teaspoon of salt to a bowl of water to release the bugs and caterpillars from your leaves and then rinse three times.

We chose to grow Kale rather than cabbage because it is quicker to grow, you can leave it in the ground and cut the leaves. It is also a superfood, loved by nutritionalists and cooks in seconds. At the cafe we are using it to add to pakoras and where we might use spinach. It has the advantage of not being too wet like spinach so you keep quite a bit of the fibre when you eat it.

I love a Kale Caesar’s Salad (recipe below) but you really need to enjoy your greens to appreciate it.

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/kale-caesar-salad

remember to remove big stems and adding the oil and salt at the start to tenderise the leaves is essential.