by Ira Wallace

A pot of southern peas (black-eyed peas are only one kind), some greens simmering on the stove and fresh ground cornbread in the oven always takes me back to my grandma’s kitchen. We always ate collards on New Year’s Day along with some black-eyed peas and freshly baked cornbread for good luck in the coming year.

Updated Collards: Young & Tender, Briefly Cooked

As an heirloom gardener I strive to keep up old fashioned food traditions while updating them to be more sustainable and healthy for our lifestyle. Check out all of our collards online. I prefer my collard greens young, tender and quick cooked with garlic or onions and a little vinegar or hot sauce for added zing.

Fresh from the garden is always best as shown the last few years when our heirloom Alabama Blue Collards, closely followed by Carolina heirloom Yellow Cabbage Collard and Shiny Green Glaze Collards are competing with the ever popular kale varieties.

Home-Grown Corn: Fresh Ground Cornmeal for Incredible Flavor

All winter but especially during the holiday season I feel so blessed to live with great cooks who use our homegrown dent, flint and flour corn to make fresh cornbread, grits, tortillas or polenta almost every day throughout the winter.

The only problem is which do I enjoy most – Floriani Red Flint, old fashioned Tennessee Red Cob, Texas Gourdseed, Blue Clarage or Kentucky Rainbow (aka Daymon Morgan’s)? I think of it like having a dozen children, you love them equally for different reasons.

If you are new to growing and using your own home ground dent and flint corn check out Jordan’s blog post Processing Flour Corn at Home and look for more about growing and using corn for as a staple and for special meals soon.

Black-Eyed Peas for New Year’s Luck

Check out my earlier blog post for a little more about why we eat Black-eyed Peas at New Years and look for a delicious Hot Pot recipe before New Year’s Eve.

Until then here is my recipe for quick vegetarian New Year’s Collards if you want to add some good luck to dinner tonight! (This is also good the way my grandma made them, slow-cooked with bacon grease and served with bacon bits on top).

Quick Southern Style Collards

1-2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 sweet onion, diced

1 to 2 bunches tender collard greens, well washed, stems removed and chopped

1/2 cup rich savory broth or ¼ cup vinegar 
(optional 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions


Coat the bottom of a large cast iron skillet with the olive oil then add the onion and cook until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the chopped collards to the pan along with the broth or vinegar, optional red pepper flakes and some salt and pepper and cook until tender, but still bright green, 4 to 5 minutes. Adjust the seasoning if necessary.

Serve with bottled hot sauce and vinegar at the table.

In today’s modern, busy life getting kids in touch with the natural world can be tough. Finding time to get outside with family and grow something can be incredibly helpful for children. It helps them connect with nature, learn about where their food comes from (no it doesn’t just appear in the store), and develop healthy eating habits. Even with the best-laid plans gardening with kids may not be the happy idyllic family moment we picture in our minds. Gardening really is hard work! One way to help kids get excited about gardening is to grow fun and exciting varieties.

Green Pod Red Seed Asparagus (Yardlong) Bean

Kid’s will marvel at these enormous beans the first time you add them to your garden. They’re also a super reliable, trouble-free variety and if properly trellised their towering vines can make excellent tunnels or forts for kid’s to play in.

Chioggia (Dolce Di Chioggia) Beets

Slicing one of these beets reveals a gorgeous bullseye pattern. Beets are also a great choice for kids because their sweet, mild flavor makes them easy to slip into other food like berry smoothies or even chocolate cake!

Purple Dragon Carrots

Carrots seem to have become typical little kid food and these purple carrots pulled fresh from the garden are sure to impress more than their whittled down grocery store counterparts.

Strawberry (Two Inch Strawberry) Popcorn

This variety is absolutely adorable and makes an amazingly easy to store snack for winter. Being able to pull out a jar of red popcorn to pop together on a winter afternoon provides double the fun!

White Wonder Cucumber

These little slicing cucumbers are a wonderful size for children to pick and eat. They have great flavor and are very productive.

Rainbow (Five Color Silverbeet) Swiss Chard

These rainbow greens might help make leafy vegetables more appetizing for your kids. They also have larger seeds than many greens making them easier for small children to plant.

Cossack Pineapple Ground Cherry

These tasty little fruits have a flavor reminiscent of pineapple. Small and easy for children to pick on their own, they’re sure to be a star in your garden. Just don’t expect too many of them to actually make it into the house!

Green Arrow Dwarf Shelling (English) Pea

Peas are nice big seeds for little hands to plant. They also have sweet little flowers and vines. They’re fairly easy for small children to pick and shelling them together can be a great family activity.

Connecticut Field Pumpkin

What child wouldn’t want to grow their own jack-o-lantern? Unlike store-bought Halloween pumpkins you’ll know exactly what these were grown with so you can eat them too!

Amy’s Apricot Mix Cherry Tomato

Cherry tomatoes are super easy for kids to go into the garden and pick for themselves. This variety tends to vary a lot so you’ll probably end up with a mix of colors and shapes which can make them even more fun for kids. Other great cherry tomato choices include Matt’s wild cherry tomato (red) or lollipop tomatoes (yellow).

Amish Moon and Stars Watermelon

If you have the space for a watermelon patch, moon and stars watermelons are stunning. They generally have one or two larger yellow spots (moons) and tons of smaller yellow spots (stars) on their dark green rinds. They make a super fun space themed snack for any kid.

If you don’t have space or long growing season for Amish moon and stars you might consider a patch of sugar baby watermelons. They’re a delicious, easy to grow, space saving variety.

Johnny-Jump-ups

These tiny flowers are super easy to grow and edible. Munching on a few flowers may help kids feel at home in the garden.

Nasturtiums 

One of my favorite flowers, nasturtiums are so whimsical they have earned their place in fairytale lands like Tolkien’s Middle Earth. They’re vining nature, cute orange flowers and lily pad-like leaves help make the garden a magical place. They’re also entirely edible, perfect for young children who like to try everything.

Mammoth Sunflowers

With 9ft stalks and 11in heads, these mega sunflowers will impress kids and adults alike. Just make sure the kids keep the shell spitting contests outside!

For more tips on getting your children gardening, check out Get Your Kids Involved in the Garden!

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