Winter Greens

Efficiency in the garden is a subject I think a lot about through the winter. The ideal is a perfectly tended set of beds that rarely, if ever, lies fallow and is always producing something edible. This ideal seems so simple while leafing through the garden books and catalogues tucked away in a warm corner chair. My well intentioned seasons in the garden end up as haphazard as planned, but at least there is a plan. The plan at the moment involves trying out winter greens so that next January there will be leafy crunchy things to pick out of the snow and put in a pot for dinner. Winter greens have never really made it onto my table though, so the past couple months we've been trying them out to see which is tastiest. The winner is kale.

Collard greens, mustard greens and kale both belong to the "cabbage" family, the Brassica genus, which includes broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower and cabbage. Kale has the classic blue-green leaves of cabbages, and was actually a staple of the common European diet until the middle ages when the more tender and compact cabbage was bred. The richly dark and frilly leaves of kale are stunningly nutritious, with high levels of Vitamin A and C, and calcium. It is widely available in a variety of markets and often the crispest looking green around in January.

Cooking kale is outrageously simple. Remove washed leaves from the tough stems and toss in a pot with about half an inch of lightly salted boiling water then cover and steam for 10 to 15 minutes. The greens wilt down a little like spinach, but there is a hearty flavor and backbone left to the kale. I was expecting a bitter flavor, which I found in the mustard greens we tried, but was surprised just how tasty and tender the kale was. Although most cookbooks I referenced were largely silent on the subject of cooking greens, collards and kale, the cooking times I found varied widely, up to an hour in some recipes. Starting at the minimum of 10 with my first batch of kale, I liked it so much I did not try any longer cooking. It strikes me that kale leaves chopped would be a lovely addition to rustic winter soups and would stand up well to an extended simmer.

Delivered Temptations

The catalogues have begun arriving again. I mean, of course, the seed catalogues, those visions of wonder and delight wherein every page is a summer day in a perfect garden. Temptation begins in early January and continues until May. They are such a joy to browse through as the wind shakes the downspouts and the cold really takes hold outside. It is easy to slip into the fantasy of the catalogue photos, stepping into a garden where seeds always sprout easily and there is always time to feed and water when needed. These tender shoots never suffer destruction by rabbit or insect and there is a big and beautiful crop unblighted by armies of unknown bugs.

This year I'm debating whether to try a new lettuce or a kale. Lingering over the tomatoes makes me think it might be time to try one of the yellow heirloom varieties; Pineapple, Persimmon or Gold Medal. They promise to be intriguely sweet with a rich flavor. These pictures of gorgeous red fruits lead to daydreams of fresh salsa, tomato salad, tomato sandwiches, and stewed tomatoes. In these pages I forget for a moment that last year was my worst tomato crop ever because each and every perfect tomato was tested by a squirrel first. After watching them for weeks ripening from green to red I would come out to discover the horror of tomatoes with weeping, insect covered ragged holes. Ah, but that was last year. As more catalogues come the disappointments fade and hope for the new season returns. After all, the tomatoes salvaged were wonderful.