Master gardener Jenks Farmer (his real name!) is back with his second monthly column. For the record, the Shop Tart finally got around to planting her potatoes from last month’s column and hopes she wasn’t too late. Jenks is traveling this month and the Shop Tart is thrilled to see a column on greens. Greens are good for you, for real. (Check the end of the column for a tasty and healthy way to prepare them.)

Columbia City Farmer, Part II

I’m in an airport in Bangkok. [Ed. Note: Lucky!] Just spent seven days hiking and sleeping in tiny Hmong villages in Northern Laos - came to see the woods. [Ed. Note: Wait. What? Are there fancy hotels in the woods?] I’d forgotten that 25 years ago, Hmong veggie gardens in Seattle totally inspired the research project that led to my using greens within my garden designs.  (Hope I can get a pic to you. Love the Boingo app for finding free wifi.)  Tom’s leaving to come back to Colatown and I’m headed to Borneo to meet up with Pat Butler of the old “Talk of the Town.” Remember him and his shocking article on a lesbian wedding in Columbia? Being away for weeks just loosens the rubber bands in my mind. What a little world. Tom will put up pics of Laos soon on my site. The picture below is of a floating veggie and flower garden in Burma.

So, the veggies of Hmong people inspired me years ago and led to one of the very cool accomplishments of Riverbanks Botanical Garden - the introduction of purple mustards,  apple green mizuna, and Italian Black and Russian Red kale to the winter landscape. At that time, pansies were the winter standard. Boring, flat masses of color, like somebody had thrown a pastel blanket down to the ground.

Columbia should be proud of achievements like this. We changed an entire industry with a trend that spread across the southeast and continues to be used in gardens and commercial landscapes today. Lots of greenhouse growers and landscapers made lots of money from this ‘new’ trend. It just occurred to me that I used to do a lecture about this called “Liberate Your Pansies!”

Southerners call all those plants “greens,” turnips too. We just lump them together, heave them in with too much fat and overcook them. [Ed. note: While in general the Shop Tart tries to eat healthy, there is a time and a place for this dish, preferably prepared with fatback from Caw Caw Creek pork.] Greens are the basis of southern winter diets. The Veggies of Soul Food. The veggies of poor people in the South, because they are easy, cheap and totally reliable in our erratic cold, then warm days of winter. [Ed. Note: Erratic is right. Is it really going to snow again? That is irritating, because the Shop Tart has a new dress and wants to wear it soon. It is very short.] They’re also the staple of many Asian diets; about 25 years ago, I met all of these in a Japanese community garden in Seattle.

They’re absolutely the most nutritional veggies we can grow and eat. My ophthalmologist at Eye on Gervais told me not long ago that the best thing I could do for my eye health is to drink a kale shake every day. With a bit of pear and a shot of Saint Germain liquor, it’s a tasty treat. We have little happy hour parties and y’all have to stop by to try this. (Facebook me and ask to come, I’ll send you a Facebook invite to the next one, but remember I’m off hiking for a while.) If you can’t, check out these fantastically sweet, enzyme filled, cold pressed dehydrated Greens on-line.

Most kale is probably sold out at local nurseries, as it’s best planted in the fall. An easy to sprout alternative is mizuna. Any time after St. Patrick’s Day, get a pack of mizuna seeds. (Rosewood Market, Earthfare or Woodley’s should have them.) Try some arugula, too. Scatter the seeds over a pot of fresh dirt or a bed you’ve just tilled, not with a machine, just a little hand claw tiller rake thing. [Ed. Note: “a little hand claw tiller rake thing” is the kind of gardening language the Shop Tart can understand!]  Compact the seeds into the soil by pressing down with your hand, or just walk across them. Then water them in. In about 30 days, you should have a crop of greens.

When you sprinkle seeds, always pat them down to ensure soil contact; this keeps them moist.

Join me to support and be proud of gardening in Columbia. I lecture all over the country, but not often in Columbia. March 18th is my birthday and I will be giving my first lecture here in years! It sounds sappy - “Southern Garden Memories.” I’ll talk about how I’ve learn to incorporate the good things about growing up in a fading rural south into some pretty sophisticated garden design. Tom and Bob will be there selling fairly rare crinums from our nursery, things we don’t offer on-line. Learn more about greens and my garden design and be ready to buy some rare crinums, very cool plants. (Mention this blog and get a free little gift!) For more details and information, click here.

The End

A few days ago, Jenks sent this update: “Hey. Back from hiking. Headed to a tailor in Bangkok. Amazing veggie gardening and fun to be in a vegetarian country in Laos. Here is a pic of a coriander and radish garden. Love boiled fern fiddleheads!” [Ed. Note: What the heck is a fern fiddlehead? Oh, yeah. These.]

So, about those greens. Tracie of Yum Diary fame taught the Shop Tart to sauté greens in a little miso and oil. Miso is yet another insanely healthy food and Rosewood Market stocks lots of great flavors.

As for juicing your greens, the Shop Tart will admit this sounds gross, until you try it. She purchased a relatively inexpensive juicer a while back at Gwyneth Paltrow’s behest. (Well, Gwyneth didn’t personally demand it, but her detox diet did and the Shop Tart was following it.) That juicer works just fine and the Shop Tart was surprised to learn she would continue to use it. Greens, a couple of pears, a lemon and a slice or three of ginger make a lovely afternoon snack juice. Really. If you would like to try vegetable juice without committing, head to the deli at EarthFare, where they can make juice to order. The Shop Tart has been on a wheat grass kick recently, but she makes it herself because fresh wheat grass from City Roots tastes way better than any other. So, to add to an already long list, she is now a wheat grass snob. Could be worse, n’est-ce pas?

Now that you will be healthy all week - gardening and juicing away - you’ll want to have fab plans for the weekend. If you feel like dressing up, there are several options. Gentlemen, you could rock black tie all weekend long. Friday night, the American Red Cross of Central South Carolina is hosting the Red, White and Black Tie Gala at the Medallion Center. The Shop Tart loves to party for a cause (or, like, any other reason). Saturday night, there are two great and fancy options. Here in Columbia, enjoy Carniball, an upscale, lowcountry party to benefit EdVenture Children’s Museum. Come dressed to dance the night away! If you are in Chareston for the weekend, do join the Shop Tart for the fourth annual Unmasking Colon Cancer Ball. It will be held at the South Carolina Aquarium and she is co-emceeing a fashion show with looks from Saks Fifth Avenue, Marysia Swim, Hampden Clothing in Charleston and Columbia’s own AnnaBelle LaRoque, who has created several signature looks for the event.

And speaking of AnnaBelle…did you know she is showing at Charleston Fashion Week? Her show is Friday night, march 19th, and the Shop Tart can’t wait! Another Columbia boutique, Bella Vista Bridal, is showing at the bridal couture show on Saturday and the Shop Tart won’t miss that, either. While she is no longer a blushing bride, she can still enjoy looking at the gorgeous dresses!

Sunday evening, if you have any energy left, join the Shop Tart, Patti O’Furniture and a fab host committee for the Nickelodeon Theatre’s Oscar Party. The food will rock, there will be a signature cocktail and the party will be an absolute blast. Get your tickets now, as they are limited. Look for more menu details right here later in the week and look for an article in Thursday’s weekend section of The State about the event - with pictures!

Happy Shopping and don’t forget to tell them you read it on the Shop Tart!

P.S. Exciting news from Solstice: They want you and they want you bad. They want you so much they have lowered the prices on regular menu items. As of yesterday, no dish on the regular menu will cost more than $15. If you want to pay more, there will be occasional pricier specials, but the regular menu is pretty darn amazing. Now is a great time to try Solstice, for the first time or the tenth. The flavor is the same, the preparation is the same, the portions are the same. Only the prices have changed. Hooray!

P.P.S. It is quite possible today’s post is too long, but the Shop Tart can’t let this go. She enjoyed Frogmore stew from the special appetizer menu at Mr. Friendly’s last night. It was delicious. The entrees looked great, too. They are continuing their Fish Camp-inspired menu through tonight. With a half-price bottle of wine (no, she didn’t drink it all), her tab was $25. She was full and had half a bottle to take home. Tonight, they will have several $20 bottles available, so go!

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