Pumpkin, sweet potato and kale recipes
Raw, baked, or lightly cooked. Each way of cooking has something going for it: raw keeps all the vitamin C, roasting brings out sweetness, and a quick steam or sauté keeps vegetables bright with little effort.
Find a market or farm
Pick a place from the list or the map. Hours come straight from the listings, and many places are seasonal, so call ahead before a long drive.
Simplified map. Pins are placed by street and town and may be off by a few blocks, so use "Get directions" for the exact spot.
What's good for you, and when
The dark bars with a check-style underline show the usual North Alabama harvest months. Open any card for the health benefits, a picking tip, and the places that grow it.
Grow your own kale, starting with one plant
Kale is the easiest green to grow through a North Alabama fall and winter. Skip the seeds: a starter plant from the garden center at Home Depot or Lowe's gets you picking leaves in a few weeks.
Why kale earns a spot
Taking a blood thinner such as warfarin? Vitamin K affects how it works. You don't have to avoid kale, but keep the amount you eat steady from week to week and check with your doctor or pharmacist.
Which kale to buy
From the garden center to your plate
Six steps, about 30 minutes of work on day one.
One pot. Three plants. Ten minutes a week.
That's the whole plan for your first season. Small is how you finish what you start, and kale rewards it: three plants give one person a big handful of leaves every week from fall into spring.
Your weekly ten minutes
When kale is going well, add one more
Same pot size, same care. Pick one, not all four.
For a huddle group that gardens and eats fresh
Four to eight people, a few pots each, and a shared table once a month. A group makes gardening cheaper, cuts down on waste, and keeps everyone going when the novelty wears off.
Your first get-together
One hour, at someone's kitchen table or porch.
Jobs that rotate each month
Nobody does everything. Pass these around so no one burns out.
A fall season for the group
Carpool, split the shopping list from your next menu, and bring a cooler. These listings are open this month; tap one for directions.