Winter greens varieties
Although
leafy greens aren't as sexy as tomatoes, they make up the majority of
our fresh diet for about six months of the year, so I figured it was
worth trying to find the best varieties for our garden. Here are
the greens we're experimenting with this year.
Swiss
Chard: Fordhook Giant --- I've never thought of
Swiss chard as being very cold hardy, but I recently read that Fordhook
Giant is more tolerant of cold weather than the colored stalk varieties
I've grown in previous years. Unlike the other greens detailed
below, which were planted in August or September just for winter
eating, this Swiss Chard was planted in the spring and eaten all
through the summer.
Kale: Winterbor, Improved Dwarf Siberian, and
Red Russian ---
Kale is our favorite winter green since it tends to last the longest
and taste the sweetest, so I'm trying out three varieties reputed to be
especially cold hardy. I have one data point so far --- the
Improved Dwarf Siberian barely came up in the earliest planted bed, so
perhaps it can't germinate in hot soil.
Tatsoi --- Germination seemed to be
a bit spotty during the summer heat, but the plants that came up spread
out quickly to cover all of the soil. I really enjoy the almost
cabbage-like shape of this Asian green, and the way it doesn't give any
space for weeds to grow.
Tokyo bekana ---
The earliest planting (August 2) of this Asian green is starting to
bolt, which doesn't bode well, but Mark and I enjoy the taste.
Mustard: Giant, Broadleaf, and
Tendergreen ---
Neither Mark nor I are big fans of spice, so mustard is our least
favorite green for flavor. However, I have to admit that mustard
grows better in our fall garden than any other species (although in the
past, it has died back much sooner than kale.) I didn't research
mustard as thoroughly as some of the other types of greens, just
planting the varieties offered at our local feed store.
Turnip,
Hakurei --- This
small turnip is meant to be plucked at about the stage you see in the
photo, then eaten with the tender tubers chopped up and mixed with the
greens. We haven't tried any yet, but will soon.
We'll decide on the best
greens using two different metrics --- cold hardiness and flavor.
The best way to select for extreme cold hardiness is to leave your
plants uncovered until temperatures drop down around 25, but we'll be
erecting quick
hoops this
week. Despite the protection, I think we'll see differences in
how long plants grow through the winter and whether they last until
spring.
A taste test is called
for to decide on the most flavorful greens. So far, I've just
been mixing up pots of a bit of this and that, which is very tasty, but
doesn't tell me which varieties fit our palates best. Now that
we've had several frosts to sweeten the greens, I'll pick a day to cook
up a little bit of each one and have a greens tasting. The
question is, should I cook them up the way I usually do --- sauteed
with a bit of oil and balsamic vinegar --- or just steam them lightly
so that the distinctive flavor of each variety is most evident?
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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
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You left out my favorite--collard greens! Here in SC, folks mix up seeds for kale, turnips, rape, mustard, beet and broadcast them thick in narrow beds. I think the mixture is better than any individual green. I would suspect that the nutrition from the mixture is better than from any single green.
A good winter meal is to saute greens with onions and garlic and serve over pasta.
I've never been a fan of cooked greens. However, since I'm trying to create a homestead, it is time that we try to work it into our meals. We have mustard greens growing, but they are meant to be used as salads.
I guess it is probably too late to get any other greens growing, huh? I'm just up here in Maryland. We had a killing frost this morning.
It seems like people are very interested in greens --- exciting to see so many comments about something I thought was a bit dull.
Daddy --- I probably should have added collards to our trial list. I tend to think of them as not quite as tasty as kale and not growing quite as well as mustard, so I don't plant them, but it's been a few years since I gave them a try. I like doing plantings separately, but agree that mixtures do taste the best (and probably do provide different nutrients, especially if you mix families by including swiss chard or spinach with the crucifers.)
Eric --- Good idea! Good point about raw trials. My brother told me about a kale salad he had eaten last winter and we tried one when the kale was very sweet and were blown away. I should probably make more raw greens dishes.
Fritz --- You might find you love them if you grow them yourself and eat them fresh. I thought I didn't like about 2/3 of the things we now grow until we grew them ourselves. As long as you go into eating from your garden with an open mind, you're probably in for some delicious surprises.
Unfortunately, it's much too late to be planting greens. I plant them in August and September since they have to get well established before the hard frosts.
Lisa --- I used to agree with you about hiding the greens in something else, but as I mentioned above, once I started eating good greens, I realized I loved their own flavor!
Greens are waaay more sexy than tomatoes...IMHO.
Adding a tablespoon of miso into a pot of cooked greens (after they're cooked, just add and stir around) is awesome.
Cooked greens in place of spinach in spanokopita is awesome, too. If you have lots of greens but not lots of people who love greens this is a good way to use it because the chz adds other flavours and the puff pastry changes the texture.
Greens rock.
Paula --- It just so happens that I saved tokyo bekana seedsthis spring. Check that link to see the species they cross-pollinate with, which would be your only problem.
J --- You made me laugh saying that greens are more sexy than tomatoes --- spoken like a true homesteader.
Thanks for the cooking ideas! I haven't tried anything like either of those, and we do end up getting sick of my favorite methods in a month or two and need to mix it up....
Our tatsoi sweetened up after a couple of heavy frosts and suddenly became one of my favorite greens yesterday. Wow! Delicious! You're so right about tastes intensifying with greens at this time of year
I like arugula too, although it's a bit strong for me unless I mix it in with other greens. Generally, I add a bit to salad.