Fresh Garden Coleslaw

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This is not your everyday coleslaw. It’s not the sticky sweet creamy coleslaw that gets served at the neighborhood barbeque. It’s so much better. This is a delicious fresh garden coleslaw full of ingredients from the kailyaird, aka kitchen garden. If you don’t like coleslaw, trust me, you will want to try this. We are talking tangy, rich, crisp, full of flavor and complimentary to so many more dishes than a standard coleslaw. My personal favorite is to have it on fish tacos or our Kailyaird Black Bean Burgers.

This recipe was originally created by a good friend and mentor of my husband, a man who grew all his own food. The difference between using grocery store ingredients and home-grown ingredients is night and day. The crisp and sweet flavor of a carrot fresh from the ground can not be beat. And, the results make this fresh garden coleslaw incredibly flavorful. My husband then introduced me to the recipe when we first met using fresh ingredients from the farm he was working on, and it has been a household staple ever since.

Most coleslaw recipes, even though they are mostly carrots and cabbage, are still full of cream and sugar making them just as unhealthy as many standard barbeque dishes. This recipe has no added sugar or dairy and is packed with super healthy foods like garlic, parsley, thyme, sunflower seeds, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, red cabbage, and of course, carrots.

Most of the ingredients are easy to grow or make at home, making it even more special to share with friends and family. It is also a great way to use up those carrots that grew a little on the wonky side. Since they all get shredded, no matter the size or shape, they will all be uniform in the end.

Growing Tips

I love growing carrots at home. There are so many more varieties of carrots than you see at the store with varying sizes, colors, tastes, and shapes. Since this coleslaw doesn’t have any added sugar, I like to choose a sweeter variety to provide the sweetness that balances out the tang. This Baltimore carrot variety is great for easy shredding and a nice sweet flavor. Another favorite is Candysnax for maximum sweetness!

If your soil at home is full of rocks or clay, it may be a good idea to try growing carrots in a deep container. That way you can control of what kind of soil your carrots are being grown in. Since they are a root vegetable, they like a nice sandy loam soil so that they can easily push the soil out of the way as they grow. Things like clay and rocks will constrict their growth and cause splits.

Cabbage is a brassica and, like all brassicas, is loved by many a pest. It is hard to grow cabbage at home without them being attacked by all kinds of bugs. Slugs, aphids, beetles, earwigs, and more all love to eat your cabbage just as much as you do (maybe even more), but they do not wait for it to finish growing, they just dive right in. I always recommend having a pest plan before planting a garden. It can be so frustrating to find an infestation and realize that you have nothing on hand to do about it. To keep your garden natural, organic, and safe to eat means doing some research ahead of time and having a few options available. Different pests will require different approaches. What to know: What kind of pests are common in your area? What do they respond to? What is harmful to beneficial insects in your area? What might be called organic, but still be harmful to your health? My usual pest control options are diatomaceous earth, oil spray, soap spray, and neem oil. I have also had success literally just picking bugs off and dropping them in a jar of soapy water.

Growing Zones

Cabbage: 1-10
Carrots: 3-10
Parsley: 4-9
Thyme: 2-10
Sunflowers: 4-9
Lemon: 9-11
Learn more about your growing zone here.

Hand-Drawn Printable Recipe – Fresh Garden Coleslaw

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