I write my April update to you from North Carolina where we have ventured for a mountain biking spring break. Now that I have a farm to attend to, leaving home for 4 days has made me slightly anxious. I have been loving my daily trips over to Table Root to check on the progress of the garden and all that is growing. The early season crops of kale, collards, watermelon radishes, wasabini greens and beets are growing beautifully and I’m loving this season where pests are not yet a problem to address. All but one of my snap peas failed to sprout and I will look forward to taking some time to trouble shoot that. My second planting of chard, claytonia greens, and a second round of kale, collards and radishes had just sprouted prior to our departure. I am hoping to get the remaining spring crops planted as soon as we return, but I’ll have to be quick as the persistent spring rain will be present at the end of this week.
I have no new updates on my certificate of occupancy from Cherokee county, but I am starting to look at some alternative plans for moving forward with my workshops. I will continue to post updates on my Instagram as I hope to have something more concrete prior to my May update.
I appreciate all the responses for those of you who want on the veggie availability list as well as the volunteer list and I do believe you will all hear from me before May also. If you have not contacted me and would like to know what veggies I have available for purchase throughout the summer or if you’d like to volunteer at the farm, please send me an email.
I have completely failed to continue producing blog posts this past month, but will continue to keep aiming for going forward. If you have a farming or nutritional topic that you would like me to cover in a blog post, please let me know! Additionally, I’d love to hear what kind of agricultural workshops you would be interested in attending. I’ve had a request for a gardening 101 class and am working to see if I can put that together.
I am sharing a very simple recipe with you this month that was the star of my most recent communally cooked dinner. It’s so simple and so delicious and features collards which will continue to be available here in GA for the next month or two and then again in the fall. While I’ve made small changes, the original recipe belongs to Elyse Kopecky who is the co-author of the Run Fast, Eat Slow cookbooks.
Miso Butter Collards with Shredded Daikon Radish
1 tbsp white miso paste
1 tbsp high quality unsalted butter (softened to room temperature)
1 large bunch collard greens
½ cup shredded daikon radish (or any radish that is available to you)
Combine miso paste and butter in a bowl and mix together well.
Slice collards in bite size strips.
Shred radish with a large sized cheese grater or julianne with a knife.
Heat a saute pan over medium heat.
Add the miso butter to the pan and allow to melt.
Add the collards and stir to coat completely with the miso butter.
Cook until collards turn dark green and are just starting to get soft.
Place the collards in a serving dish and top with shredded radish.
Eat immediately for best flavor.