Kale soup is comfort food to me. The rich flavour of potato, onion and kale delights my taste buds and warms me to the core. Packed with minerals and vitamins as well as fibre, kale is comfort food with a hefty nutritional kick.

I started growing kale when I lived in Australia for 3 years. Kale leaves in Sydney were as rare as hen’s teeth. I started kale from seed, as there were no seedlings available. And since I only had a balcony garden, the kale grew in containers. Kale soup took on a dimension beyond comfort food.

In Canada, kale is readily available in supermarkets. It’s a cool-season crop coming into its own in the fall, but it’s available all year round thanks to the global economy. Even with the readily available supply of kale, I decided to grow my own.

Why? It’s a beautiful ornamental vegetable. The large blue-green leaves add drama and texture to any border. Plus I have a supply of pesticide-free, high quality kale leaves. I don’t harvest the kale until after a hard frost. The frost sweetens the leaves.

I don’t worry if I have more kale than I can handle. I give some of the surplus to my neighbours and the rest I store in the deep freezer in heavy-duty Ziploc bags.

It’s a vegetable that keeps on giving.