How Our Garden Got Soul: Collard Greens

Rejoice with your family in the beautiful land of life!  ~Albert Einstein

So… good news.  The slugs did not eat all of our collard greens (I’ll post pictures of the death traps later).  They actually left us 8 lbs 4oz of greens.  We had a great evening at dusk, the whole family collecting greens. 

 

Ok, well, Barry and I harvested collards.  Sophia picked peas.  Sadly, enough to make one serving!  Wow, you have to plant a lot of daggone peas to actually want a few servings of them.  Gabriel pulled dirt out of the raised beds and seemed to rub it into his skin.

 

Here’s a few pictures of our haul.  I’ve also added my mother-in-law’s recipe for collard greens.  Enjoy.

Linda Parker’s Collard Greens

I am writing this entry as Barry prepares the greens.  It’s nice to sit with him and reminisce about his mom, Linda, who we lost three years ago to cancer.  Linda was a fantastic cook.  I remember how the family would gather at the Parker house for many family dinners and everyone was welcome.  The Parkers always believed that you should cook enough for everyone to bring a few friends and that they all should take a plate home with them.

Barry learned to make these collard greens by watching his mom as he was growing up.  Every southern family has their own recipe.  The Parkers made them for every holiday and definitely for New Year’s Day.  They are considered good luck and represent the dollars that might come your way.  Collard greens are new to me, being a northerner and all.  I must admit I love the smell but they have not grown on me as of yet.  It has been 18 years since I’ve moved here and if they haven’t taken by now, I’m not sure they will.  I think I am an anomaly though because everyone else LOVES them.  Barry says he loves everything about them right down to the pot licker, which is the juice that is left over after you’ve eaten everything else.  He says they are a comforting meal for him and remind him of home.

We are so excited to make these now with our homegrown collards.  Barry commented that they are so tender that we can even use the smaller stalks and that our leaves are smaller than what he would get at the grocery store but we wonder if that is because they are organic. There is also very little grit, which is nice.

Collards are not a lot of work.  So says he. 

You will need:

·      3 ham hocks

·      A bunch of greens because they cook down.  Tonight we are cooking 

about 8 pounds but Barry says you get them in the grocery store in 3 pound packs.  He usually buys between 3 and 4 packs.

·      3 large yellow onions

·      About 10 cloves of garlic

·      About a tbsp of salt

·      About a tbsp of pepper

·      About a tbsp of seasoning salt

·      About a tbsp of sugar

·      About 2 tbsp of apple vinegar

SSorry about all the "abouts".  Barry is that kind of cook.

You first have to cut the leaves from the larger stalks.  Then wash them thoroughly.

 

Cook the ham hocks, water, onions, and garlic together to make a broth in a big stock pan.

Add greens and more onions (because Barry likes onions) to the pot.  Add the salt, pepper and seasoning salt to taste.  I tried to pin Barry down on amounts but the most he would give me is about a tablespoon each but I would really taste it because that is what he does.

Cook till tender.  This will take about 45 minutes.

 

Add about a tablespoon of sugar and 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar.  Taste.   Adjust seasoning to what you like and serve.

Goes excellent with BBQ, fried chicken or (who are we kidding) any large southern meal.