Creasy greens

We had our first creasy greens (upland cress: Barbarea verna) today, a totally delicious green that's a winter and spring tradition in Appalachia. I bought the seeds from Sow True Seeds, a local Western North Carolina seed company, in Asheville, as a bit of a novelty.

A good friend of mine who grew up eating 'creasy greens' had primed my awareness of them, and I thought I'd give them a try.

The plants form low rosettes, and I'd kind of ignored the small patch through the fall (the hakurei turnips were MUCH larger and more robust as was all the arugula and kale - and both were easier to harvest), but being back in the mountains after winter break had me noticing how nice the leaves of the creasy greens looked (in spite of some hard freezes in the meantime).  They were glossy and green without any sign of frost damage.

Collecting a nice bunch of them to quickly stir-fry to have along with our breakfast omelet, I discovered that raw, they're quite peppery, but cooked -- yum!  They're totally delicious, with a texture of a tender kale, and very tasty.

Hmm, I'll be growing a lot more of these in the future (as winter crops, for sure!)

Here's a photo from another seed source, Southern Exposure Seed Exchange.