Firefly Homestead Farm and The Seed Farm @ Princeton, Hopewell, NJ

Tessa Lowinske Desmond is a scholar and a farmer. She teaches classes on food, farming, and literature in the Effron Center for the Study of America at Princeton University and co-directs The Seed Farm@Princeton and the Princeton Food Project. She also owns a homestead farm where she cares for sheep, chickens, and a big kitchen garden. Her research interests focus on community-engaged scholarship, oral history, and community seed saving. She is also a board member with the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New Jersey.

I’m currently in my first year as a steward for Georgia Blue Stem, which I grow at my homestead farm. I also grow the Ultracross at The Seed Farm@Princeton, which I co-direct.

Why are collards special?

Dear friends and collaborators–many involved in HCP–have helped me fall in love with collard greens. I love collards because I love collard people. Along the way, I’ve been swept up by diversity and beauty of collards. I especially like how they taste after a light frost when the leaves have a subtle sweetness.

What’s Your Favorite Way To Eat Collards?

My favorite recipe that uses collards is a hearty winter soup: a collard + potato + sausage soup that’s served with a spicy chili oil.