🥬 Collard Greens: From Our Fall Garden to Your Table
Long before collard greens make it to the Sunday dinner table, somebody has to put a seed in the ground.
At Bunny’s Love Farm, fall means it is time to make room for cool-season vegetables, and collard greens are one of the crops we look forward to growing.
Collards are more than just another vegetable in the garden. For many Southern families, greens are connected to Sunday dinners, holidays, family recipes, and memories of meals prepared by parents and grandparents.
So this week, we’re taking you from the garden all the way to the kitchen.
🌱 Growing Collard Greens in the Fall
Collard greens are a cool-season crop, which makes them a great addition to the fall garden.
They grow best in fertile, well-drained soil with consistent moisture and plenty of sunlight. Before planting, we want to prepare our growing area, remove weeds, improve the soil where needed, and make sure our young plants have enough room to mature.
As the weather cools, collards can continue producing when many warm-season vegetables are finishing up.
Cool temperatures can also improve the flavor of collard greens. As the plant responds to colder conditions, changes in its sugars can make the leaves taste sweeter.
That’s one of the reasons fresh fall greens are such a treat.
🥬 Did You Know?
Collard greens belong to the Brassica family—the same group of vegetables that includes kale, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts.
Collards provide nutrients including vitamins A, C and K, along with folate, calcium and fiber.
They’re a good example of why growing a variety of vegetables can add both flavor and nutrition to our meals.
🧺 Harvesting Collard Greens
One of the things we love about collards is that you don’t necessarily have to harvest the entire plant at once.
Once the leaves are large enough to use, you can harvest the bigger outer leaves while leaving the smaller center leaves to continue growing.
That means one healthy collard plant can provide multiple harvests over time when conditions are right.
And nothing beats walking out to the garden, picking fresh greens, and taking them straight into the kitchen.
🍲 Bunny’s Love Farm Southern Collard Greens
Here’s a simple Southern-style recipe featuring smoked turkey.
Ingredients
2 large bunches fresh collard greens
1 smoked turkey leg, wing, or neck
1 medium onion, chopped
2–3 cloves garlic, minced
4–6 cups chicken broth or water
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, plus more to taste
Black pepper to taste
Crushed red pepper flakes, optional
Salt, if needed
A small amount of oil for sautéing the onion and garlic
First: Clean Those Greens!
Fresh greens can hold soil and grit, so washing them thoroughly is important.
Remove damaged leaves and thick stems as desired. Place the greens in a clean sink or large bowl filled with cool water and gently move them around. Lift the greens out rather than pouring the dirty water over them.
Drain the water, refill with clean water, and repeat until you no longer see dirt or grit.
Then stack or roll the leaves and cut them into the size you prefer.
Let’s Cook!
In a large pot, lightly sauté the onion until it begins to soften. Add the garlic and cook briefly.
Add the smoked turkey and broth or water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, cover, and simmer until the turkey begins to become tender and flavors the broth.
Add the cleaned collard greens a little at a time. They’ll cook down as they wilt.
Add black pepper, red pepper flakes if you like a little heat, and the apple cider vinegar.
Cover and simmer until the greens reach the tenderness you like. Cooking time can vary depending on the age and texture of the greens.
Remove the smoked turkey, pull the meat from the bone, discard the bones and skin as desired, and return the meat to the pot.
Taste before adding additional salt because smoked turkey and broth can already contain plenty of sodium.
Serve warm—and don’t forget the cornbread!
🥣 Don’t Throw Away the Pot Liquor!
If you grew up eating Southern greens, you may already know about pot liquor (sometimes spelled potlikker).
That’s the flavorful cooking liquid left in the pot after greens have simmered.
It carries flavor from the greens, broth, seasonings, and smoked meat. Some families spoon it over cornbread, dip cornbread into it, or simply enjoy it right along with the greens.
It’s another reminder that food isn’t just about ingredients.
It’s also about tradition.
🌱 From Our Soil to Your Sunday Dinner
When you see a plate of collard greens, it’s easy to think about the finished meal.
But we see the whole journey.
Preparing the soil.
Planting.
Watering.
Watching the weather.
Managing weeds.
Waiting.
Harvesting.
Washing.
Cooking.
And finally—sharing a meal.
Long before collard greens make it to the Sunday dinner table, somebody has to put a seed in the ground.
At Bunny’s Love Farm, that’s where the story begins. 🌱🥬
Bunny’s Love Farm
Saving our planet for the next generation!
