Another Fall harvest

I couldn't wait any longer and decided to harvest some of my collard greens. I did not take a current picture, but here is what they looked like about a month or less ago. They were much larger today.



This is what they look like 6 hours after the harvest....




mmmmmmmm.......... GOOD!

I love being in and from the South!

what's a good way to prepare them? I've never made them, but hear they're really good for you!!

Many years ago, I picked up a method from an elderly lady named Lucille and was labeled "soul food". Good for about any green and not just collards.

Bring enough water to cover 2 ham hocks to a boil and reduce heat to simmer for 2 hours.

While that is happening, wash and break up your greens removing the larger stems. Be frying up 6 strips of bacon until crisp reserving the grease and coarse chop the bacon. Chop up a whole onion (red is a good choice).

Remove ham hocks from simmering stock after 2 hours and lay them aside to cool. Dump greens, chopped bacon, bacon grease and chopped onion into the stock. Add a little sugar, vinegar, salt and hot sauce to taste. After hocks have cooled enough to handle, remove any lean meat you can from the bone and add it to the pot. Bring all to rolling boil and then reduce to simmer. Cover pot and let simmer about 4 hours until tender to your liking.

And there you are..... some of the best stuff you can have as a side to a southern meal or just have by itself with some good homemade corn bread.

Sounds alot like a recipe for wilted lettuce my wife's grandmother talks about.

its looks really good. its a wonderful experience.

Oh that looks wonderful! I tasted my first collard greens when I visited my sister in Missouri. Her neighbors had a pot luck get together. One lady cooked fried chicken just like my mom (who was born and raised in Tennessee before moving to California in her late teens). Another lady made collard greens and it sounds like hers may have been the way you describe. They were amazing!

congrats on your winter harvest!

summer of 2011 was the first we had ever grown any type of greens....hubby fell in love with his collard greens......

we cooked them similar to bnoles but used chicken stock and added some golden raisins.....

we found out too that they will grow all season and then over winter providing some greens during those cold months ....once it starts to heat up in the following spring is when they will flower and give their seeds....

hugs
rose

southern gardener wrote:what's a good way to prepare them? I've never made them, but hear they're really good for you!!

As any good southerner can tell you, they aren't so "good for you" when we get through with them. It all starts with a smoked ham hock and some fatback. But man, oh, man when the magic happens!

bnoles wrote:I couldn't wait any longer and decided to harvest some of my collard greens. I did not take a current picture, but here is what they looked like about a month or less ago. They were much larger today.



This is what they look like 6 hours after the harvest....




mmmmmmmm.......... GOOD!

I love being in and from the South!

Can I come to your house for Sunday dinner?