Celebrating First fruits from the garden: Greens
The weather is just starting to warm up. We are free of the frosts and freezes. Well, we hope we are! Fingers crossed. But we are ready for our gardens and to start enjoying those fresh homegrown or farmers market vegetables.
The first fruits from the garden that we can get our hands on are greens. Mustards, Collards, Kale, Chard. I love a mess of greens. But truth be told I did not grow up eating them. I didn’t learn to cook greens until after I was married. I looked questionably at the dark green leaves boiling with chunks of salt pork looking very much like a swamp witch’s brew.
I plant my greens early in the year under hoop houses. This helps keep them a bit warmer and protect delicate leaves from any heavy snow. When I cook my greens, I don’t boil them. And there is always bacon involved.
Ingredients
- 2 gallon bags of greens (mustards, collards, kale, and or chard)
- 1 medium onion
- 8 slices of bacon
- Minced garlic, salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Wash and dry greens. Remove the tough vein and stem of all but the chard. The stem is very tender when cooked and adds texture and a bright accent color to the dish. Chop or tear greens into 2 inch strips or pieces.
- Slice the onion.
- Cut the bacon into half inch pieces.
- In a large stock po,t cook the bacon and onion over medium high heat until everything starts the brown.
- Add the greens. You may have to do this in stages as the greens cook down.
- Add garlic, salt and pepper.
- Stir and cook for 20 minutes until greens are tender
Jeanetta is an artist, blogger, and sometimes homesteader. She’s addicted to coffee, her garden, and chickens. You can see her art and read more stories at JeanettaDarley.com. Or follow her on social media @jeanettadarley.
Greens are the best! With the mild winter, I have chard out the wazoo and am loving it. Thanks for sharing the recipe, Jeanetta!
I am still growing the same chard plants I planted from seed last spring! They are such givers. LOL
Do you ever grow lettuce? I planted some for the first time and oh my gosh it was bitter. I read that it could be the nitrogen in the soil. Any thoughts?
I have only grown spinach not heads of lettuce. But I do know that any greens will become bitter if the temps get too high and they start to bolt or go to seed. That’s their natural process. They don’t like strong sun so growing them in shadier areas helps. Also adding a bit of wood ash can make any vegetables sweeter. Hope that helps!
I have only grown spinach not heads of lettuce. But I do know that any greens will become bitter if the temps get too high and they start to bolt or go to seed. That’s their natural process. They don’t like strong sun so growing them in shadier areas helps. Also adding a bit of wood ash can make any vegetables sweeter. Hope that helps!