I called my old dog Zonker my “kale-hound.” After a heavy December or January snowfall, when I’d say, “Let’s go dig some kale,” Zonker would charge from the dooryard, plowing through shoulder-high snow up the hill toward the garden, sniffing frantically until he came to the precise spot where I’d planted kale the previous spring. Then he’d begin digging furiously until he’d uncovered enough of the hardy greens for supper.

I’ve grown kale in my garden for 35 years and find it among the easiest crops to cultivate. Kale packs a nutritional punch no other cultivated crop can match. Rich in vitamins A and C, it contains ample supplies of iron, potassium and other minerals. Its calcium level rivals that of dairy products. Kale also contains high levels of heart-protective, cancer-inhibiting sulfur compounds, as well as pigments scientists believe that may protect human eyes against cataracts and macular degeneration, the leading cause of adult blindness.

Kale prefers rich soil with a pH between 6.5 and 7.0. I grow three or four varieties each year, sowing seed directly into the ground anytime from early May through early July. To discourage flea beetles, I cover the planting with a polyester row cover. Cabbageworms rarely bother kale, although aphids love it, especially the puckered-leafed Toscano and the sweet-tender Red Russian varieties, so I keep those varieties covered throughout the entire growing season. (I recently learned that taxonomists don’t classify my favorite Red Russian as a kale, but as a variety of rutabaga, grown for its leaves instead of its roots. Recently research at the University of New Hampshire has found that of all the commonly-available kale varieties, Toscano has the highest concentration of the phytonutrient lutein, which among its many health benefits, may protect human eyes against the harmful effects of solar radiation.)

Woodchucks love kale, so if you garden in a woodchuck-prone area, you’ll need to take the usual precautions: a tall, sturdy fence set deep in the ground to prevent the ‘chucks from digging under, a good woodchuck dog, a gun (check local ordinances to make sure it’s legal to discharge a firearm in your jurisdiction) or a trap. Wildlife biologists recommend shooting a woodchuck caught in a Havahart trap, rather than releasing the captured animal in a wild spot a few miles down the road, as some older gardening manuals suggest doing. Biologists say woodchucks generally can’t find food and shelter in their new surroundings, leaving them vulnerable to predators or consigning them to a slow death by starvation.

I usually make several succession plantings of kale from mid-May through mid-July, keeping my salad bowl supplied with the small, tender thinnings throughout the summer months. The flavor of kale improves markedly after a frost or two, and most kale varieties will keep well left right in the ground all winter long, especially in years when a few inches of snow fall early in the season to insulate the plants. (If you don’t have a kale-hound, make sure to mark the rows or beds of kale with a tall stake tied with a colorful streamer.)

I prefer harvesting kale in the dead of winter, since I can just take my colander into the garden and crumble the frozen leaves into it, avoiding the need to chop them.

Don’t pull those tough, woody kale stems out of your garden in the spring, either. Most years, the stems will sprout a new crop of sweet, tender leaves for salads long before the spinach and lettuce get big enough to harvest. I usually pull the kale stems out in early June and plant green beans in the empty space.

I add chopped kale liberally to soups, stir fries, quiches and omelets. But I’ve also learned to love it straight-up, cooked like this: Chop and lightly sauté a clove or two of garlic in olive oil in a large frying pan or wok. Add a quart or more of chopped kale to the pot with a little water, cover, and steam until the kale becomes tender. Grate a little pepper or nutmeg over it, dress with a bit more oil (vinegar optional), and toss with a handful of chopped toasted walnuts or almonds. You can make a main dish by using the kale as a bed for grilled salmon, chicken or marinated tofu, stuffed portabella mushrooms, or chopped hardboiled egg.

Peg Boyles