Welp, the hock has been set to the boil. Once it reaches boiling, I'll start timing and will boil it for one hour. After that, I will add the collards and cook at a simmer till Steve is ready to eat.
I don't have many collards, my crop didn't do very well. I decided that although everything I've read calls for two hocks, I opted for only one...the largest of the five I bought. So I have frozen the other four for future use. Perhaps a batch of red beans and rice? I usually make them with a chunk of ham, but ham is pricey...and I've *got* hocks!
I've just now finished planting my eggplant in a hardware cloth basket. Everything looks good! My squash seems to have recovered from the hailstorm...the holes in punched in the leaves didn't seem to distress them at all.
I was just remembering years ago when I stewed those rabbits. Food is such an adventure! LOL!
Collards don't really like heat. If you have seeds, plant them again in mid-summer (mid-July to August). They're better after the first frost.
Back home, collards would stay green over the winter...if the deer didn't eat 'em!
I usually boil the hocks the day before I need the broth, then refrigerate it overnight. Next day, you can skim most of the fat off the top, and you have a fairly healthy broth that is SO flavorful! I do this for Bean Soup, and I imagine it would be quite tasty for Red Beans and rice. Just cut the meat off the hock and put it in there with the other stuff.
It surely is! We've been nibbling on the first round of radishes. Tonight we're having a lettuce that pulled to make way for a pepper plant.
The nayber girl (age 3) was out with her mom this evening. They were planting marigolds in the little raised bed they built for her. She's destined to be a princess - spoooooooooiled - so it pleased me to see her getting grubby at a formative age.