by Lisa Giroday, Sandra Lopuch and Sam Philips | Kale, kale, kale, kale, kale. Hearing about how great it is all the time may or may not be exhausting for you, but as we’ve noted before – kale this chilly time of year is a welcome bit of green on our plates.

The good stuff has been cultivated for approximately 6,000 years, yet it wasn’t introduced to North America until the 1800’s – and we at Victory Gardens are thankful for that. We love our kale with the utmost fervour, but often have debates over what our favourites are (food-growing nerds know what we’re talking about). There are admirers of curly kale and lovers of the more flat leaved types like Rainbow Lacinato. Don’t even get us started on the undying love for Black Tuscan by the general public of gardeners! Conclusion: all kale is equally awesome.

If this is your first season growing kale in your garden or on your balcony, here are two winter pointers: 1. Do not harvest when it’s frozen – harvest mid-day so it doesn’t turn to mush. 2. It will be just fine over the winter, don’t worry! In fact, come spring, it will resume growing and soon become a behemoth monster plant. Kale buds taste soooo good.

Get in the swing of winter cooking by trying the following simple and non-laborious kale and bean stew with sage, thyme, white wine, and butter. It’s a dish you can make with 100% local ingredients if you so desire a mélange of the many veggies and herbs in season…

Kale Stew with Dried Scarlet Runners, Sage, and Thyme Butter

1 bunch kale – you decide on your favorite, or mix it up
1 cup dried scarlet runner or other locally dried beans, cooked and drained
1 large onion, sliced
5 tablespoons butter
3 cloves garlic
1 handful of thyme sprigs
1 handful of sage leaves
¼ tsp crushed dried hot pepper
1 cup white wine

Chiffonade kale leaves (and remove stalks). Finely chop the garlic, sage, and peel thyme from sprigs. In a large skillet, heat butter over medium heat; add onions and sauté then add garlic, crushed pepper thyme and sage and sauté for a few more minutes until it’s nice and aromatic. Add kale, cooked beans and white wine. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Simmer for about 15 minutes or so.

THE VICTORY GARDENS ARCHIVE

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Victory Gardens is a team of local urban farmers for hire. Lisa, Sandra and Sam help transform tired or underused residential and commercial green spaces into food producing gardens. Their goal is to challenge the way communities use space and to participate in the change needed to consume food more sustainably. For the rest of the growing season, they’ve hooked up with Scout to share some cool tips and tricks on how to get the best from of our own backyards.