Kale Sprouts - Red Russian Kale

Name: Kale Sprouts - Red Russian Kale
Brand: sproutpeople
SKU: kalesp
Price: 28.55 USD
Availability: InStock

Mild, sweet, flavor similar to other Brassicas. This Kale produces a lovely deep red sprout.

Note: This is the same seed we sell for Red Kale Micro-Greens. See the Notes tab (below) to see why you can't currently buy this seed on this page.

Note: We sell Red Russian Kale by the 1/2 pound.

All our seeds are sourced from certified organic suppliers.

$28.55 / 1/2 lb.

Variants

Nutritional Information

Vitamins A, B, C, E and K
Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Zinc
Carotene, Chlorophyll, Amino Acids, Trace Elements
Antioxidants
Protein: 30-35%

Flavor

Nice, mild and nutty

Yield: 5 to 1

The amount of Kale Sprouts - Red Russian Kale produced by 1 unit of Seed. For Example 2:1 means that 1 pound of Seed will produce 2 pounds of Sprouts or whatever crop you are growing. You do not have to grow them all at once of course, unless you wish to =:-D

Harvest: 3 - 6 days

The time it takes to grow a finished 3 - 6 days, or other crop (Micro-Greens, Grass, Greens) from a dry Seed. Note: This "finished" Sprout is our preference. you may grow them for as long as you want! In fact, we suggest that you taste them at every rinse to discover when you like them best.

How to Grow Kale Sprouts - Red Russian Kale

Soak 3 Tbs. of seed in cool water for 4-12 hours.
Drain off soak water. Do not ever soak again.
Rinse thoroughly.
Drain Thoroughly.
Rinse and Drain with cool water every 8-12 hours.
On day 3, move your Sprouter to indirect sunlight.
Continue to Rinse and Drain every 8-12 hours.
Harvest on day 5 or 6, when the leaves are open and most of them are green.
De-Hull your crop if you like, before Refrigerating.

The seed of most Brassicas is virtually identical, but this is the one you are looking for - Red Russian Kale seed.

After an 8 hour Soak, followed by their first Rinse and thorough Draining.

In case you are wondering, we are looking into an Easy Sprout, in which our Kale is sprouting.

12 hours later, following another Rinse and thorough Draining.

Another 12 hours later, following another Rinse and thorough Draining.

Yet another 12 hours passes....
I think you get the idea - every 12 hours you Rinse and Drain thoroughly.
Be sure to click the Video tab, and watch our scintillating bit of cinema that lives there. It's on growing Broccoli Sprouts, but the process is Identical.
It'll really help you grasp fully what I mean by Thorough.

If you are sprouting in a hot and humid place/time, add a 3rd Rinse/Drain to your daily schedule (8 hours apart of course) - from the time you start and until your crop is done. Sprouts generate a lot of heat as they grow, and Brassicas are cool weather crops, so they especially like to be cooled down.

12 hours later.

12 more hours later.

And - another 12 hours passes.

12 hours later I like to partially De-Hull my crop. I say partially, because there will most likely be enough hulls left when harvest time comes, that a thorough De-Hulling will be desirable.
To do thi partial de-hullings, fill your Easy Sprout (you can also do this if you're sprouting in a Jar, but if you're using a Tray Sprouter, skip this step) with water and stir your sprouts up, so hulls can float to the surface.

Note: The red light is from an LED fixture I'm testing. I should have turned it off for the pictures, but alas, I didn't. It looks kinda cool, eh?

Guide the hulls into a small area.

Gather them up with your fingers (you can use a spoon if you prefer, but sprouts like your loving touch) and compost or dispose of them.
Repeat this process 2-3 times, until there aren't enough hulls to gather.
Rinse and Drain thoroughly.

12 hours later.

12ish hours later.
You can harvest now if you wish.
It is a good idea to De-Hull your crop.
Here's the deal:
You want to get the hulls out of your crop to increase shelf life after harvest. Here are two ways to do this....
One has to be done now. It's the Bowl Method (described 1/2 way down our De-Hulling page). After doing that, return your sprouts to your Sprouter and Drain especially thoroughly after Rinsing, so your crop can adequately dry before Harvesting.
The other method uses our our terrific Salad Spinner/De-Huller. If you have one (or something similar =;-) you can go ahead and grow another 12 hours - especially if you prefer the picture below to the one above.

If you are growing that final 12 hours - proceed to text past the next picture.

View more How to Grow videos

The seed of most Brassicas is virtually identical, but this is the one you are looking for - Red Russian Kale seed.

After an 8 hour Soak, followed by their first Rinse and thorough Draining.

In case you are wondering, we are looking into an Easy Sprout, in which our Kale is sprouting.

12 hours later, following another Rinse and thorough Draining.

Another 12 hours later, following another Rinse and thorough Draining.

12 hours later.

12 more hours later.

And - another 12 hours passes.

Guide the hulls into a small area.

12 hours later.

Yields approximately 3 Cups (1/2 lb.) of Sprouts

Prep 3 Tablespoons of seed* then transfer (if necessary) into a bowl or into your Sprouter. Add 2-3 times as much cool (60°-70°) water. Mix seeds up to assure even water contact for all. Note: brassicas tend to float. Try to sink those that do by knocking them down with your fingers. It isn't a big deal but it is a good habit.

Allow seeds to Soak for 6-12 hours. Empty the seeds into your sprouter (if necessary). Drain off the soak water. You may water plants or use it in stock if you like - it has nutrients in it. Rinse thoroughly with cool (60°-70°) water. Drain thoroughly!

Set your Sprouter anywhere out of direct sunlight and at room temperature (70° is optimal) between Rinses. This is where your sprouts do their growing. We use a counter top - in the corner of our kitchen, but where the sprouter won't get knocked over by cats, dogs, kids or us. We don't mind the indirect sunlight or the 150 watts of incandescent light, because light just does not matter much. A plant can only perform photosynthesis when it has leaves. Until a plant has leaves, light has little if any effect. Sprouts also happen to like air-circulation, so don't hide your sprouts. This will be plenty of light when the sprouts are ready for it.

Rinse and Drain again every 8-12 hours for 3 days. As long as you grow you have to keep the sprouts happy!

Always be sure to Drain very thoroughly. The most common cause of inferior sprouts is inadequate drainage. Most sprouters look like they will not hold water, but even the best designed device does, so pay special attention to this step.

Note: These wonderful little brassica plants have a unique root structure. Brassicas will show microscopic roots starting around day 3. They are called root hairs and are most visible just before Rinsing when the sprouts are at their driest. When you Rinse, the root hairs will collapse back against the main root. These root hairs impress many people as mold - but they are not. Now you know!

Greening On the 4th day relocate your sprouts if necessary. If you've been keeping them away from light, move them. Avoid direct sun - it can cook your sprouts. Indirect sunlight is best but virtually any light will do. Experiment - you will be amazed at how little light sprouts require to green up. Photosynthesis is a marvel!

Continue to Rinse and Drain every 8-12 hours. As long as you grow you have to keep the sprouts happy.

Finishing Your sprouts will be done during day 5 or 6. The majority of sprouts will have open leaves which will be green if you exposed them to light.

De-Hull Before your final Rinse; remove the seed hulls. Brassica sprout hulls are quite large (relative to the seed and sprout) and they hold a lot of water (which can dramatically lessen the shelf life of your sprouts), so we remove them Thusly:

Transfer the sprouts to a big (at least 2 times the volume of your sprouter) pot or bowl, fill with cool water, loosen the sprout mass and agitate with your hand. Skim the hulls off the surface and compost them. Return the sprouts to your sprouter for their Rinse and Drain. You can also use our Dehuller (a small salad spinner with an excellent design that minimizes the sprouts that escape in the dehulling process). That's the short course - here is the full lesson. Better yet, here is a video on de-hulling.

Harvest If you Dehulled with our Dehuller, or used a salad spinner after dehulling in a bowl, you can go right to refrigeration. If not... Your sprouts are done 8-12 hours after your final Rinse. After the De-Hulling and the final Rinse we need to Drain very thoroughly and let our sprouts dry a bit. If we minimize the surface moisture of our sprouts they store much better in refrigeration, so we let them sit for 8-12 hours....

Refrigerate Transfer the sprout crop to a plastic bag or the sealed container of your choice. We have Produce Storage Bags that will extend shelf life substantially.

* If using Sproutpeople's Single Harvest Pack - use the whole bag. It will produce a crop of approximately 8 ounces.

These seeds yield approximately 5:1 - which means the sprouts will weigh 5 times as much as the seed you start with, but, they will increase even more in volume - so don't start with more than 3.5 Tablespoons per quart/litre of sprouter capacity.

Micro-Greens Note:

You can also grow Kale as a Micro-Green as described on our Kale Greens page.

Another hard to get Brassica, Kale comes in several leaf shapes and colors. We offer Red Russian Kale because we love red crops, and because we have a good source which is certified organic and not too expensive. As with all sprouts, you never get to see the True Leaves (We always stop at the Cotyledon stage when sprouting leaves.), but they are really cool! If you grow these as a Micro-Green you can grow to the point where you'll see how exotic the leaves are. Or, you could plant some in your garden if you want to get a really good look at them =:-)

Note: Canadian and US researchers have found that Brassicas contain antioxidants such as sulfurophane.
Kale is a Brassica.

Because our current seed is slow to germinate and takes a day or two longer to grow fully - we are now only offering Red Russian Kale for Microgreens. You may still sprout them, but they need special care.. Drain Very Thoroughly -(Maniacally!) especially the first few days, or your crop will be less than exceptional. As this is a small seed it is even more fussy about Draining than its bigger relatives - like Broccoli.
Seed Shelf Life: 5 years. Store in cool, dark, dry spot. Store in freezer to extend shelf life.