Kohlrabi - It looks like an Alien

If you grew up in Wisconsin, you probably grew up eating raw kohlrabi.  In my home, we had kohlrabi slices next to our sandwiches instead of potato chips (and as kids, we were not too happy about that).

Yet, if you grew up with this vegetable and you have not had it for a while, you might find a taste of it will bring back fond memories.  It does make a great snack, and the new juicier, tender varieties taste better than you will remember.

Kohlrabi (pronounce it like coal-robby) is in the family of vegetables that includes turnips, rutabaga, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, kale, broccoli and cauliflower.   These vegetables mostly were grown in Europe and then later brought to the Americas.  Kohlrabi is popular in the US with families of German heritage.  Even the name is German:  Khol for cabbage and Rabi for turnip.  

Wisconsin's cooler climate is very similar to the climate in Germany, and kohlrabi grows really well here.  The plant looks pretty weird as it grows.  The leaves are light green, and are good to cook and eat just like you would cook collard greens or kale.  The bulb part grows above the soil, and is actually part of the stem.  It can be white-ish, light green and even purple.  No matter the color of the stems or the bulb on the outside, the inside of the kohlrabi bulb is bright white.  

Small kohlrabi bulb growing in the All Peoples
Darius Simmons Community Garden

If you are growing kohlrabi, don't let it get too big!  Most varieties of kohrabi get tough or "woody" (hard to chew, like if you were trying to chew wood) if the bulb gets too big.  When the bulb is about the size of a baseball, it is just right for picking.  A softball size kohlrabi will be too big and tough to eat.

When it is ready, you can harvest the kohlrabi by picking the plant right up out of the soil.  Cut off the leaves and wash them.  Cut them up and prepare them just like you would any kind of green.

The top of the kohlrabi bulb

The bottom or root side of the kohlrabi bulb

The bulb is prepared by peeling it.  Like rutabaga, kohlrabi has a waxy outside skin and an inner tough skin.  You need peel off the skin in order to eat kohlrabi raw or to cook it.  

Cut a thin slice to cut the top off

The root side can be tough, find the place
where it is tender and cut it off

Inside, the flesh is white and juicy

Use a sharp knife to carefully peel away the waxy outer
and green inner skin. 

Once the kohlrabi is peeled, you can cut it up however you like.

Raw kohlrabi is good to eat in slices, chopped or shredded on salads.  It is also a good vegetable to serve with dip or hummus.  

Thin slices or strips of kohlrabi are very good as a substitute for bamboo shoots in Chinese dishes or as a nice crunchy addition to any stir fry.

So if you come on over to the All Peoples garden and you see these weird green or purple balls with leaves growing out of them, you have found the kohlrabi.  They do look a little bit like garden aliens.  Usually kohlrabi are ready to harvest in early to mid-July.  Maybe you will get lucky and can find some freshly harvested kohlrabi on the garden stand so you can take it home and try it.

Little Mustard Seeds

When a batch of dry weather hits and your mustard greens don't quite get the care they need, you may suddenly end up with a pot or a plot full of pretty yellow flowers and skinny green and red leaves.  At this point, you could cut or pull the plants and start over, or you could change direction and let your plants produce mustard seed.

Sit back and enjoy the flowers for several weeks.  Continue to water until seed pods form and mature.  Then, let the plans dry out a bit.  When the pods are just beginning to split open, it is time to harvest.  Carefully cut the stalks and lay them out on a kitchen towel.  The seeds will start to drop, so be careful to collect them in the towel.  If the stalks are not completely dry, let them sit for a few days before collecting the seed.

Cut the stalks well below the pods

When the pods are ready, they are dry and easily split open

Each pod has a clear membrane in the center, and
the seeds are lined up on each side of the membrane

To collect the seeds, break open each pod, and scrape the seeds off of the membrane with your thumb.  I find it is easiest to do this on a light colored dish towel and then transfer the seeds from the towel to an air-tight container.  As you patiently gather the seeds, you might find yourself pondering the words of Jesus found in Matthew 17:20... if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, "Move from here to there," and it will move.

Seed collecting

Pods and stems (compost or add to your freezer
container of vegetable scraps to cook into
vegetable stock -- another blog post)

It takes time to collect a small amount of seed
but this seed is great for pickling, roasting and grinding
or planting in the spring.

Submitted by Linda Muth.

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!