Rinse/wash in water, salad spin, then straight to freezer, most of stem too, in order to preserve nutrients and antioxidants. Lots of nutrition in the stems/more than in leaf. Eat raw and frozen in green smoothies. Like liquid sunshine. One of best, if not THE best, sources of potassium. Helps lower blood pressure, balance electrolytes, lots of other benefits.

This was our 1st year growing kale. We were shocked at how much just 10 plants produced. This was a very helpful video. Thank you!

I only have 8 plants or so. Both my sinks are full at this very moment lol. I’m soaking it in cold water with a little vinegar to kill anything that might be on it. First time I’ve grown this much. Holy moly my plants were huge! I picked everything but the new leaves. I grow organic too. Sink one I rinse it off,then fill and soak. Took out a couple tiny spiders and some little fly thing. Oh yeah I found a white worm that looked like a small piece of rice. What is it?. Sink two, fresh cold vinegar water. Soak again! Thank you MI Gardener for this video! I live in Michigan too. I’m south west so it’s warmer here for about two weeks longer. I got some work to do lol. Well worth it. Let’s all stay healthy all winter long! Please make more how to preserve your food videos! Please please please!!!

You can use your thumb and index finger, pinch the stem at it's base, and drag your fingers up the stalk. The leaf comes right off. Any stem that's left is soft enough to eat. You can make a stack of leaves, roll them up like a burrito and then slice once long ways ---- and then several slices across IIIII. You can process TONS really quickly this way.

@noreen_ann1438

7 жыл бұрын

I sort of do the same thing. After it's wash I fold it in half length wise and just tear the leaves off the stem with my fingers. I use to cut them but found it faster to ripe the leaves off the stem.

💐Kale bouquet 🤣😂😂 Your Kaling me!!! Great idea to store-thanks!!

I was lucky to have a salad spinner. It works great.

Kale's flavor improves with cold weather. After a couple of light frosts, the leaves lose all their bitterness and become almost sweet.

Now I know what to do with my old kitty litter boxes. Re-use them for cold kale baths!!! Awesome idea.

I need more freezer room! I have kale like yours, and its beautiful also. They are good for green smoothies also!

I like the stems with the leaves for zuppa soup

Sir, you have the garden of my dreams! Very nice!

I have more kale than I can use, and only 6 plants??! So grateful to be able to save it!😊🌿

Perfect info for what I was needing! Luke is the BEST!

Thank you for the great info! I have a ton of kale and didn't want it to go to waste.. this is PERFECT! THANKS.. :)

Thank you so much for this awesome video. We grew Kale this year and have so much and it's getting cold now. I've seen other videos for freezing kale and ur's was the best,, very clear simple instructions. I know what I will be doing this coming week. Again Thanks!!

Nice! I grow several kinds of Kale and use them for smoothies. I have been wanting to freeze the kale for winter use, thanks!

You've got sooo many great videos. Keep up the great work.

This video was SOOO helpful, thank you!!!

Now I don't have to freak out about what to do with all the kale I over-bought today. Thanks for the tip :)

Tips: label before freezer bagging. Search: Oma's kale recipes. After WWII, germans made wonderful meals with Kale. Oma means grandmother in German. Tradition says, Kale likes to be cooked with fat.

I haven't been growing kale before, and I have a bed planted with kale, with winter on the way I want to store my kale just like you showed in this video. Thanks

I love your remark. I too am Dutch but in Wisconsin. I LOVE boerenkool.

Thank u I'm going to do mines now I have so many left I dont want them to go to waste happy holiday's to u and your family

Thanks! Very informative and conscience video

Thanks Luke!

Thank you for your video!

Nice video Luke. I am really just learning about how to preserve food and you seem to be producing videos just ahead of when I'm asking myself the same question... My winter garden will be getting ready to harvest soon and the Kale will be ready to store. Thanks! Wayne

Awesome, thanks! 💚

Great video

Thanks for this easy video. I just harvested my kale and now I can get to work to better preserve it.

@MIgardener

8 жыл бұрын

+Theodore Roberts So glad it helped!

Trying to figure out why you planted so much kale! Thanks for your tips.

I am wondering why you didn't dry the kale after blanching. Won't it be covered with thin ice when you remove it from the freezer? Thanks

Fantastic! Love Kale! :)

Great and easy tip, good way to have fresh greens in the middle of winter :-)

Good video. I didn't know you can blanch greens (why, I don't know). My nephew is wanting me to grow him some kale, so now I can do that and preserve it for him.

Thank you 🙏

I don't have any kale, I'm going to give this a try with some spinach-like wild greens I always miss in the winter!

Thanks for the video! I will definitely try this method with some of the excess kale we've got growing in our garden. I never thought kale would be freezable. One winter I still had so much kale growing in my garden and I didn't want to let it go to waste, so I invested in a good masticating juicer and made fresh organic kale/carrot/apple juice. Another great way of using up a lot of your kale and super nutritious! One thing I'd like to know though is if after freezing the kale and you want to use it in a dish, do you have to thaw it or do you just add it still frozen?

Thank you for the great video. I'm heading to the farmers market and now I feel better about buying in bulk...😊

@MIgardener

7 жыл бұрын

Buying in bulk is the only way to go. It is so expensive.

Right now, i can go for a dish of kale and macaroni {Sicilian style}

Thank you

Great video. Hey don't throw those precious stems out. You can juice them. they're filled with nutrients too!

Very informative!!! I appreciate your help and look forward to finding ways to use my frozen kale this winter. PS: this is the first time that I added kale to my vegetable garden varieties.

@MIgardener

8 жыл бұрын

Emily Smith I am so happy for you! kale is an amazing vegetable but it is so expensive in the stores. Really is worth growing your own.

She offered me Kale. Didn't know what it was or what to do with it. If eating it was a possibility, I couldn't have consumed it all even if I liked it. Your video has given me hope.

Great video! A basic question... how do you incorporate Kale into your diet, particularly frozen kale? What does it go well with? This is the first year I've grown and eaten it, and I've got a ton of it myself. Thanks again for the great info!

I make kale chips and store them, its easier. Don't know if the nutrients are still there but I love the taste. Like Ken Jenkins descript of the enzymes. We are sometimes too focused on "freshness" being all important.

Easier way to separate stem from leaves. Just hold the stem place fingers around and strip it off. Thanks for this info! I love kale.

thx u

btw, does the kale have to be quite dry before you toss it into the freezer? or can it be wet? if it has to be as dry as possible, would you recommend using a salad spinner to dry it?

Do you cut out leaves chewed up by bugs? Or do you worry about that? During the the summer I take kale leaves after they are washed and slightly dried, and those them on a cookie sheet. I freeze them and then when I make smoothies I break the leaves off the stem, which is really easy because they are stiff, and toss it in to blend smoothies. It makes a colder smoothie!

@StigglyNYC

6 жыл бұрын

I'm about to freeze our end of summer kale and much of it has been chewed through, but I figure if the caterpillars like it, must be good stuff! #organic

Thanks for your video, after freezing can we use the kale normally for steaming and stir fry, and can you please advise for how long to do this for, because I am supposing cooking time will be less, am I right. Thank you!

I enjoy the stems. Never understood why people discard them.

A salad spinner works great for getting the excess water out. I think about the only time I use a salad spinner is for kale and collards lol

I have a food saver machine. I guess I can do this step before sealing.

In the Netherlands we mash it up with tators, and some fried cubes of bacon... noms.

maybe try some baked kale chips?

Question: I don't have a garden. I live in the innercity and in apartments. No land to till :). So, I have pretty stuck buying my veggies, so they won't be as fresh as yours. I buy a lot of Kale. But, they sell them in huge bunches, more then I use at a time. Would your method work for store bought Kale as well?

@reptileadventures3504

7 жыл бұрын

Gina Pocan i dont see why not as long as they are fresh and crisp they should be fine and you can grow veggies in flower pots in small spaces

@Netspin1

5 жыл бұрын

I've had great success just: de-stemming, rip the leaves to smaller pieces as described by Migardener, wash in cold water, shake excess water, pat dry, stuff in recycled Chinese take-out containers (of course any container will do!), pop the containers into the freezer. I use these frozen Kale on a salad. Take when needed by removing an amount I'll use in the salad. Put the rest back in the freezer. Take the now frozen Kale selection give it a slight squeeze. The frozen Kale will crumble easily into smaller pieces (the stuff is chewy; smaller is less chewy). NOTE: at room temperature the Kale will soften in a matter of minutes. It can't be crumbled then. The remaining frozen supply will last at least 4 weeks.

can I juice it after

Does anyone know how long kale chips would last on their own

Hi! Thx for info. Was wondering also if u can grow all summer with high heat?

@Addicted2Muzic94

4 жыл бұрын

I live in central florida (zone 9). This is our first time having a full garden (we used to only grow tomatoes and some herbs) and we have tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower (a beautiful purple variety that is just starting to get a head!), peppers, rosemary, basil, parsley, lettuce, kale, an assortment of flowers, mint and then a few other odds and ends. So far everything is still doing pretty good despite our high temps. The tomatoes (heirloom purple Cherokee) are starting to going down some however but we are still getting plenty of tomatoes off of them. The only thing that no longer is producing is our lettuce; I probably could have gotten more out of them if i had planted them differently. I tried to do them under my tomatoes and we let our tomatoes get waaaay too bushy so they pushed the lettuce down and it was very hard to care for the lettuce at the center of the bed because i had to all but crawl underneath the tomatoes to get to them. I let my basil go to seed because i wanted to harvest them but other than that, everything else is going fantastic! We just harvested the last of the broccoli and I'm gonna see about cooking up the leaves. They taste so good! Kinda like collards!

@mishalea

4 жыл бұрын

@@Addicted2Muzic94 oh thank you!! And goody, I love collards!!😋 I am trying the Cherokee Purple this yr for the 1st time! 🤞 I am in 6a in KS!🌻

Haha, in The Netherlands (where i'm from), kale is quite cheap and considered a peasants/farmers food. "Boerenkool Stamppot", look it up! :D

@shakengrain1942

4 жыл бұрын

Been a garden staple for centuries. Bound to get that stigma somewhere. One of the most nutrient-dense plants you can grow.

I cook my collard greens that way, I notice less bitterness when the color is preserved. On my list of things to try is to steam in bamboo stackers instead of boiling, in order to preserve more nutrients. The stacks can be transferred directly to an ice bath and then pulled for draining before adding more ice for the next batch. When done draining, a stack fits into those plastic bags perfectly. At least that's the idea I have. I want to reduce the processing time while maintaining as much quality as possible.

@MIgardener

8 жыл бұрын

garyrich2000 I like the sounds of that. I may give it a try! Thanks!

Hell yeahs!

how do you feel about using a food saver machine, it would last longer in the freezer if needed

@MIgardener

8 жыл бұрын

+todd germaine I am almost sure it would, however the food saver is something that makes you buy an expensive machine, and then buy expensive bags. I am not about that kind of living. but you can totally do it! Whatever works for you :)

omg I wanted to know how to freeze it without blanching... over 3 minutes of rambling on about a plant we've been growing and then you blanch it. Thanks to you and Google for giving me exactly what I didn't want!

@shakengrain1942

4 жыл бұрын

Freeze raw, keep stems, blender for green smoothies. Healthiest way to eat it. Been doing it for years. (Rinse first, dry in salad spinner optional).

Starts at 3:25 for processing

Do you get all the air out of the baggie before freezing the kale?

@MIgardener

9 жыл бұрын

dymondwillow2 I get as much as possible. It helps to increase the shelf life of the kale. Or in this case, the freezer life.

Thanks for not showing if you squeeze all the air out or not...im guessing yes...

After the kale has been in the freezer can it be juiced also rather than just using it in soups and pastas?

@MIgardener

9 жыл бұрын

Laszlo Horvath It is not the best to juice it because you won't get much juice out. It is honestly better in pastas and soups. You can also put it in smoothies too

@hoopmanlaszlo

9 жыл бұрын

Thank you for your quick reply. Keep up the good work.

Did you wash the kale before you blanched it? Or was that the cleaning process?

@MIgardener

10 жыл бұрын

I did wash it off. I did not think that would need to be a step, but I am so sorry for not mentioning it!

@tessiemay1789

5 жыл бұрын

He said to wash it at 4:24

The enzymes don’t actually boil off, the heat just denatures them making them inactive.

@MIgardener

6 жыл бұрын

Truth!

9:00-He goes inside and starts the process.

Nice video, but at 7:49 there is a tiny spider that falls in the sink.

@MIgardener

9 жыл бұрын

Giulio Vismara haha that spider just ruined the entire video! grrrr

@wendyheit1

9 жыл бұрын

***** Oh no!! Yuk!!..I bet you're gonna find that spider in your bag too because he disappeared & you picked up a piece of kale out of the sink - right where he was- & threw it in the bag!...lol

@DT-vc7hd

5 жыл бұрын

Protein

We are supposed to eat 7 cups of vegetables a day, so growing a lot of kale is worth it

question: are you from canada??

@MIgardener

9 жыл бұрын

Jmoney sr nope! :) sorry, close to it though!

I wouldve liked to see the frozen kale

So wait, it's safe to boil? Wouldn't all the nutrients be left in the boiling water?

@sumiller1850

8 жыл бұрын

+Ray Obando Blanching is much shorter than boiling it. Blanching is quick.

First

I don't mean to argue, but enzymes are not organisms. They are proteins catalysts that serve specific functions. An enzyme from a plant is doubtful to have any effect on your own bodily functions. You digest them like any other protein and use the amino acids to build your own proteins. Aside from that, they are extremely sensitive to temp and pH, so they will be denatured in your stomach and lose function.

are you vegan or vegetarian?

arent you killing most of the nutrients cooking the kale?

@susanconta1831

5 жыл бұрын

Manny G no, it’s actually better for access to vitamin A to break down the cellulose so the A is available, like cooked carrots vs raw, makes for higher vitamin A availability. Also, extended blending, liked doctor berg On KZread kale shake goes 4 minutes in blender. But eating it any old way is better than nothing. I prefer the red Russian, less curly. So sweet!

You look so young here 😂

bug in the sink.

@MIgardener

9 жыл бұрын

bizzle187 I washed off the kale, so I would expect there to be some ;)

@randolfbruin8558

9 жыл бұрын

***** 7:52

If you give it to your GF just make sure your wife doesn't find out.

N u make a tortilla.mmmm

Were you married when you made this video?