growing & crawling: frost sweeten

Growing & Crawling

frost sweetened

If kale is such a super food then why do so many people find it bitter and unpalatable? Why do we need to massage it to make it salad worthy? Turns out it isn't kale's fault.

Kale, and other cole crops, are known to prefer growing in colder temperatures. Here in Virginia that means we not only plant these seeds in the fall for a winter harvest, but also try to squeeze in a crop in the early spring.

Unfortunately, our springs soon turn into summer which means that these crops are not developing as they are designed to do.

When temperatures drop, kale and others convert some of their starches into sugars. This keeps the water in their cells from freezing. It works the same as putting salt on the road to prevent ice forming. Essentially it's nature's antifreeze. In the cabbage family, cold weather increases sugars and releases special proteins in the plants that provide freeze tolerance, which subsequently alter their flavor. This then gives kale, cabbage, broccoli, and other cole crops a beautiful sweet flavor that is nothing like the bitterness you find from most store bought veggies in the same family.

While these crops will grow as a spring planting in our zone (7a) it means they mature in warmer temps and do not go through this process making them taste much more bitter than a fall planting.

By janet douberly

Janet Douberly is an employee sweetened by cold weather at Downtown Greens.