With kale, it’s hard to say whether it’s actually been frozen while still alive in the subzero field! Some of these cold-hardy veggies may be set up so the internal water gets really cold, but doesn’t actually crystallize (see SUPERCOOLING in my comment above). You’d think some scientist in a lab somewhere would’ve tried this, but it’s not easy info to discover.

Anyhow, the simple answer is, TRY IT. Grab a few leaves and toss ‘em in the freezer. Maybe blanche-and-freeze some as well. In a day or two, you’ll be well on your way to new knowledge! :)

Hope that helps!

Question for you – once the kale is snowed on/frozen once, do I still need to blanche then freeze it or can I just freeze it as is? I’m uncertain if I even CAN freeze it…but it’s already been frozen! Please help clear my confusion if you can.

Cheers,
Erikka

I got more curious about all this last night, and decided to go the farmer-scientist route and see what I could find. A search for “plant physiology freezing” scored two interesting hits in a couple of minutes, one off Google’s first 10 results, one off of Yahoo’s. They’re both…readable (I have no sciences background…)!

Basically, the keyword is SUPERCOOLING. This puts a term and a concept to what I’ve observed. Essentially, water can go well below its minimum freezing point without turning to ice. It can freeze at 0°C, but also supercool—”stay liquid”—to around -40°C, at which point, crystallization is for sure. In hardy plants, no ice crystals, no damage. It’s a little more involved than that, there’s more interesting stuff, like intercellular and intracellular freezing, generated heat and dehydration, and I’m not sure if KNOWING that will somehow help in the field. But it’s a cool explanation, and all makes sense when you’re thinking about the garden. The more you know, the less you need….?

Anyhow, if you like, read all about it: Role of Cold-Responsive Genes in Plant Freezing Tolerance (first three short introductory sections, then it gets all technical and into genetics…) and Ice Formation in Higher-Plant Cells. Fun!

Amanda: Mmmm, yeah, lovely snow… Maybe for the Holidays. Really, though, for now I’d rather be able to go out there and get the rest of the carrots! :)