Dinosaur Kale Debuts at Greenwood Lake Farmers Market

by Peter Lyons Hall

Though a light rain was falling on the Lakeside Farmers Market in Greenwood Lake on Saturday, September 29, 2023, it was nothing like the torrential precipitation that deluged New York City earlier in the week; visitors to the weekly farmers market were determined to see some of the latest produce that were being harvested by local farmers.

A recent arrival is a Tuscan Kale variety, sometimes also known as Dinosaur or Black Tuscan kale. The vegetable has long, narrow, blue green rumpled leaves, with a texture that reminds some people of the skin of a dinosaur. It’s an extremely old variety that is very hardy to lower temperatures. Its delicious flavor can even improve with frost; that variety of kale is preferred by many chefs due to its nutritious ingredients and flexibility for use in many Italian cuisine dishes. According to Tufts University, “a single serving (one cup) contains more than a day’s worth of vitamin A requirement, which is important for eye health and immune function. It is also full of vitamins K, C, and B6 as well as manganese, copper, calcium, and magnesium. One cup of cooked kale contains 1000% more vitamin C than one cup of cooked spinach! Kale is one of the most nutrient dense foods in the world. To get the full health benefit of kale, it should be eaten with a fat source, like olive oil, which improves the absorption of the nutrients.”

While the more than 8 inches of rainfall for September was over 200% of normal rainfall for the month, its impact upon many of the fruits and vegetables has been somewhat unpredictable. It has swollen some of the diameters of the apples in Locust Grove’s orchard and caused those vegetables that grow flowers, followed by pods or fruits to become more uniform in size and develop more quickly elsewhere. Too much rain can produce flooding that washes away not only the nutrients in the soil but often the plants as well.

Some of J&A Farm’s root vegetables, like the radishes and carrots are brilliant in their colors and rich in vitamins and minerals. Radishes are chock full of antioxidants like catechin, pyrogallol, vanillic acid, and other phenolic compounds. They also have a lot of vitamin C, which acts as an antioxidant to protect your cells from damage; they also contain and minerals like calcium and potassium. The crunch in carrots adds complexity to salads, meat dishes, pasta, but they are packed with many nutrients like potassium, antioxidants, and vitamin A, among many others. The orange color in carrots comes from beta-carotene which converts to vitamin A and gives other foods its color, as well.

While residents and guests are gradually being forced to adapt to the “new normal” amounts of unpredictable rainfall and temperature fluctuations, the local farmers, orchard managers, dairy and cheese-making farms, bakers, brewers, and artisans will be on hand through the end of October, right up until and including Saturday the 28^th. To learn more about the market, click on VillageofGreenwoodLake.org/lakeside-farmers-market.