Yesterday my kale plants survived a hailstorm that killed my tomatoes. Changed my whole approach.

I've been gardening for years. Always babied my tomatoes. Water, shade, the works. Kale I just threw in the ground and forgot about. Big hailstorm hit Cleveland yesterday. Tomatoes are shredded, total loss. Kale? Totally fine. Tougher leaves I guess. 3 years of fussing over tomatoes and the ugly kale outlasted them. Makes me rethink which plants are actually worth the work. Anyone else find some tough plants that surprised you?

3 comments

3 Comments

kelly38521h ago

Yeah kale's built different, tomatoes are just dramatic divas.

jade51719h ago

Hang on, are we really gonna act like kale isn't the biggest drama queen in the produce aisle? @kelly385, you can't just call tomatoes dramatic and ignore how kale literally throws a fit the second you try to eat it raw. It's all tough and bitter until you massage it with oil or drown it in dressing - that's the definition of high maintenance. Tomatoes at least show up ready to work, whether they're roasted, sliced, or just sitting there looking pretty. Kale needs a whole spa treatment just to be edible, and even then it's still kind of a letdown. So if we're talking about who's actually being dramatic, I'd say kale is the one throwing the biggest tantrum.

avery_jackson16h ago

Jade517 is onto something with the kale roast. A quick hack is to chop it super fine and let it sit in lemon juice for five minutes before adding anything else. That breaks down the toughness without needing a full oil massage.