Too Many Turnip Greens

We’ve had more than three inches of rain in the past three days. The weather pattern was swirling counter-clockwise, warm air flowing up from the Gulf of Mexico meeting cold air coming from the west. Around and around it went, crashing thunderstorms announcing each new downpour. I enjoyed every minute of it, even at 3:00 A.M. today.

Even so, I knew that all the moisture would encourage the turnips to continue growing. They were just the right size for harvest, so Dennis pulled every one of the remaining plants.

Lucky for me we have been eating turnips right along, because even this harvest was a bit dismaying. Using kitchen shears I cut off all the old leaves for the chickens to enjoy. That’s their first bushel basketful beside me.

I reduced the amount of greens to an overflowing sinkful, after accumulating another bushel of leaves for the hens.

Finally I finished cutting out the midribs and chopping the leaves. Now they are simmering with olive oil and garlic. When they are done they won’t amount to much, considering all the labor involved, but they will make several packages to freeze for winter meals.

Considering the amount of time this task took, I probably should have given the chickens all the greens and emulated the squirrel that sat on the deck railing for a long time this morning, apparently enjoying the autumn colors.

Or maybe I should have climbed back on my high horse and continued to rant about the evil of single-use plastic. (If you aren’t familiar with the term “high horse,” Google it.)

Copyright 2013 by Shirley Domer

October's Bounty

This morning, looking at our robust pepper plants bursting with bloom and loaded with fruit, I felt sorry for them. Peppers are subtropical plants. Peppers grow to be trees in their native habitat, but here a frost kills them dead. They don’t know that our average first frost date is just around the corner. Boy, are they going to be surprised.

Tomatoes, also, will go bye-bye, but they are in decline and would soon die anyway. Their life span is almost over. They probably won’t much care when the frost comes, sort of like old people who are a little tired of living.

Still there are plenty of Roma tomatoes to harvest. Dennis picked some today, and I harvested a few turnips, beets and peppers.

I grow turnips for their greens, not their roots. Turnip greens are bursting with calcium and a host of other nutrients. I like them for their taste. Supper tonight includes turnip and beet greens braised in olive oil and garlic.

The runty beets I gave to the chickens along with all the greens trimmings, but I couldn’t give them the turnips. Studying them, I remembered that I’ve been encountering the words “pickled turnips” lately. Cooked turnips have never appealed to me much, but pickles might be a different story. After consulting Internet recipes I opted for an oriental version that includes kombu, rice wine vinegar, sugar, and kosher salt.

This is a test. It is only a test. October’s bounty allows some gambling.

Copyright 2013 by Shirley Domer

Early on A Frosty Morning

For the second night in a row the temperature dropped to 24º – at least that’s what the thermometer read at 6:00 this morning. By 10:30 it had warmed to 34º so we headed to the garden to plant garlic and shallots and to harvest some greens.

Dennis had put row covers on the fall greens a couple of days ago. Now he began preparation of the garlic/shallot bed.

A bit later he stopped digging to uncover the greens. Wow! These plants are very cold-tolerant. We have arugula, kale, turnips, escarole and radicchio this fall.

 The radicchio is beginning to form heads.

Even though I had thinned the turnips before, they still are way too thick. I managed to thin most of a short row before my hands got too cold. I brought a large basket of arugula and turnips to the kitchen. The little turnips are not my main interest; I want the greens.

Here’s a sink full waiting to be cleaned.

To cook turnip greens, I shred them into small pieces.

In a skillet or saucepan soften some chopped garlic in olive oil. Add the shredded turnip greens and a bit of water. Stir, cover the pan and let the greens steam. Stir occasionally and add a few drops of water if needed.

The greens are good served with some pepper vinegar and topped with chopped hard-boiled egg.

Oh, yes, Dennis is still out there, digging the garlic bed. Cleaning the greens can wait; I’d better go lend him some moral support.

Copyright 2012 by Shirley Domer