This month, The Poe Center’s Garden-to-Kitchen highlights Bond’s Endless Greens. Bond’s Endless Greens is a small family farm in Oxford, NC that uses hydroponic and traditional farming to produce fresh and delicious leafy greens, vegetables, microgreens, and herbs. We spoke to husband-wife duo, Felicia and Reuben Bond, to learn more about growing kale.
Felicia and Reuben started growing herbs in 2020 out of an indoor-home counter-top hydroponic garden system and were impressed with the quality and growth rate of the herbs. That excitement and ingenuity led Reuben to build a larger hydroponic system, growing more herbs and leafy greens. The couple began to share their produce with family and friends, who also raved about the quality and taste.
As the Covid-19 pandemic continued, the Bonds used this time to expand their custom-built hydroponics and newly built greenhouse, establishing Bond’s Endless Greens. In addition to kale, they sell varieties of lettuce, arugula, bok choy, and microgreens, such as broccoli, arugula, mustard greens, and radish.
Growing Kale
The Bonds use hydroponics to grow their favorite variety of kale, Red Russian kale. This variety of kale has purplish-red veins with flat, ragged leaves. Felicia and Reuben chose Red Russian because it is more tender and less bitter than other varieties of kale, such as Blue Dinosaur. Their customers love this variety, use it in salads, and even eat it fresh. The couple also notes that growing kale using the hydroponic technique produces consistently larger kale than traditional farming.
Harvesting and Selecting Kale
At Bond’s Endless Greens, they use the “haircut method” to harvest kale. This includes cutting right before the new growth is coming in. Just gather a bunch of leaves and cut straight across. This method is super easy and low maintenance for the kale. Reuben mentions not to worry about cutting too much because it grows back very quickly.
Favorite Kale Recipes
The Bonds love to add kale to a traditional southern dish: collard greens. Felicia mixes kale with collards and turnip greens, then cooks it down until the greens are tender. Their family also loves making kale chips.
Give it a try. Break up kale into small pieces and season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Bake in the oven at 275°F until crunchy.
Availability of Greens
The Bonds anticipate reopening in Spring 2023 and will be at several Raleigh-Durham farmer markets. Contact Felicia and Reuben on their website, www.bondsendlessgreens.com/, or by email, [email protected] for more information on when their greens will be available!