50 Bags of Green

Rainbow Swiss Chard

Today the children and youth took home 50 bags of greens.  We are growing collards, dinosaur kale, rainbow Swiss chard, and a bunch of different kinds of mustard greens.  Today we harvested collards, kale and chard.

Dinosaur kale and wrapping lettuce at our free farm stand

The kids in our Kids Working to Succeed program planted the seeds back in April and May.  Throughout the summer, the kids and adult volunteers have carefully watered, and weeded, and fertilized with catfish-gut-tea and Milorganite.  For the last month, we have been able to cut many pounds of greens to give away at our free farm stand.  Today was the day for the kids to learn how to harvest and to bag up the greens for their own families.

Harvesting is done by gently cutting the largest leaves and their stems away from the center stalk.  The plants continue to produce new leaves for harvesting off of the main stalk.  The children use small scissors and are learning to be gentle with the plants, to cut one leaf at a time, and to stack the leaves gently so they don't become bruised.

Family recipes for cooking greens are plentiful - and we invite families to share those recipes on this blog by emailing them to the church office!!  Some of the children specifically wanted kale to put into smoothies.  Some of the children asked if they could just eat greens raw (and they nibbled bits of leaves to see if they liked raw greens.  Some of the children had no idea what to do with the greens, so we offered to post one simple recipe which can be used for any kind of greens.

Simple Skillet Greens
submitted by Miss Linda

Ingredients:
Greens - washed and chopped into large chunks/strips (about 4 cups but any amount is really OK)
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic (or use garlic salt if you don't have fresh)
1 large or 2 smaller potatoes
Or, if you are using turnip greens, 1 or 2 turnips
Fresh or dried herbs (such as parsley, chives, basil)
Black pepper
Salt (to taste)
Olive oil (or whatever kind of oil you have)

Optional Additions:  Bacon or ham or sausage, mushrooms, pasta (cooked ahead of time)

Process:
1)  Wash the greens by filling a big bowl or your sink with cold water and put all the greens in for a bath.  Wiggle them around until they are clean and put them into a colander or on a towel to dry.  Repeat this step if the greens are really dirty.

2)  Cut the greens into slices or chunks - not too small because they will cook down.

3)  Wash and chop the onion into a medium dice.

4)  Smash and peel the garlic and chop it up small.

5)  If adding mushrooms, wash and slice them. If adding potato or turnip, peel and wash and chop into small cubes.

6) If using bacon, cut raw bacon up into 1/2" chunks (remember to use a different knife and board for meat/bacon or wash everything really well with soapy water after it touches the meat)

7)  Put about 2 - 3 Tablespoons of olive oil into a big frying pan or skillet.  Turn on medium heat.  Add onions and bacon first.  Cook and stir for 4 minutes for bacon or ham, cook a little longer for raw sausage.  Keep stirring!

8) Add mushrooms, potato or turnip, and garlic or a few shakes of garlic salt.  Add fresh ground pepper to taste.  Cook for about 10 minutes or until the veggies are getting soft.

Turnip greens with chopped turnips, bacon,
potato, onion, celery, garlic and herbs

9)  Add the greens all at once.  Just pile them into the skillet.  If you need to let some cook down so you can add them all, that is OK.  Stir quickly to cover the greens with the oils in the pan.  Drizzle a little more olive oil over the greens when you add them if you need to. Cook until the greens wilt. Add herbs.  Stir well.  Cook until the greens are soft.  Each green will cook differently.

10)  Add pasta and cook just until pasta is heated.  Add salt last and taste.  Eat while hot!

What to do with Rhubarb

As promised, we are posting recipes which use rhubarb.  We do not have photos, but as soon as we do some baking we will add the pics.  You can also send us photos of your creations!

Fresh Rhubarb Crisp

Topping Ingredients:
1 cup sifted flour  (you can use unbleached, whole wheat and/or organic)
1/2 cup raw rolled oats (not quick oats)
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup (1 stick) melted butter






Filling Ingredients:
4 cups fresh rhubarb (previously washed and cut int 1/2 inch pieces)**
3/4 cup regular sugar (you can use any healthy substitute for white sugar)
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup water**

**You can use 4 cups of cut frozen rhubarb, which will be very juicy.  Do NOT use the 1/2 cup water if you use frozen rhubarb.

1.  Preheat oven to 375º F
2.  Melt butter in a small pan on the stove or in the microwave.
3.  Combine flour, oats and sugar in a medium bowl.
4.  With a fork, stir butter into flour mixture until the mixture is crumbly.
5.  Use the butter wrapper to grease an 8 x 8 x 2 inch backing pan/dish.    You might need to add a little extra butter or vegetable shortening.
6.  Dump all of the filling ingredients into the pan and mix it together with a rubber spatula until it is well-mixed.
7.  Sprinkle the crumbly topping all over the rhubarb mix and use your fingers to gently spread it out evenly.
8.  Bake until the topping is golden brown and the rhubarb is thick and bubbly.  It takes 35 - 50 minutes, depending on your oven and the rhubarb.
9.  Cool.  Serve plain or with vanilla ice cream or fresh whipped cream.

Tips:  Set the pan on top of a piece of foil if your pan is full.  If it bubbles over it will not mess up your oven.  If the topping seems like it is getting too dark before the rhubarb is cooked and bubbly, you can loosely cover the pan with foil.

Submitted by Miss Linda

Easy Rhubarb Sauce

Ingredients:

Any amount of rhubarb, washed and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
A little bit of water
Sugar to taste

Put the rhubarb in a deep sauce pan.  Add water so that there is about an inch of water in the bottom of the pan.  Cook over medium heat, until the rhubarb starts to break apart into strings.  Stir the rhubarb every now and then with a metal spoon.  If the sauce seems to think, add just a little bit of extra water.  Once the rhubarb is soft, turn the heat to very low.  Add sugar, about 1/4 cup at a time and stir until your sauce tastes just as sweet as you want it.  After the sugar dissolves, turn off the heat.  The sauce will be VERY hot, so let it cool.  You can eat it warm, or cold.  You can eat it all by itself, or as a topping over ice cream, over fruit or over granola.

Options:
Substitute brown sugar for white sugar.  Add a little cinnamon.

Submitted by Miss Linda

Red Clover Tea

When the red clover plants came up next to the chive plants, we decided to encourage the clover to grow and produce flowers.  Red clover is a wonderful attractor for pollinators, and the flowers also can be used to to brew tea.

Fresh flowers can be used immediately, or the flowers can be dried to use later on.  Gently wash the flowers or brush off any dirt or insects.  Remove leaves (some people use the leaves, but they have quite a bitter taste).  Red clover can be used on its own, but we like to combine it with other garden herbs or mix it with green tea to create a tasty and healthy beverage.

Place 10-12 clover flowers into a coffee press or tea pot (you can use a strainer later to remove the flowers and herbs).  Add a big handful of fresh or dried mint.  Spearmint, peppermint or lemon mint work well.  Pour 4 cups of boiling water over the herbs.  Allow to steep 4 to 5 minutes.  Add lemon and honey to taste.

As with any herb, it is important to consult with your medical professionals to make sure that the effects of the herb do not interfere with medications which you may be taking or do not worsen a condition you may have.  As with all things, moderation is advised.  Many women in our community have found that red clover tea can help with symptoms of menopause such as hot flashes.  Some people also believe that red clover tea can help to prevent cancer and lower cholesterol.

Red clover tea - a healthy and tasty warm beverage option!

(To make ice tea, use a couple of extra flowers and brew for a longer time.  This tea drinker prefers red clover tea warm.)

Herbs available at our free farm stand