Late winter brings "run-up" turnip greens, which Vivian sees as central to her approach to southern food, capturing both the spirit & the letter of what Chef & the Farmer is all about. Miss Scarlett helps out by procuring greens from a local produce stand, and discussing the how-to of buying & cooking good turnips to satisfy her "southern people". She quietly disapproves of Vivian's cooking method, but both women eagerly sip the refined potlikker. That evening, Vivian downs a "cocktail for courage" as she awaits the arrival of Ben and Karen Barker, her culinary heroes.

As Vivian waits for Spring's vegetables to appear, she pauses to appreciate chicken's endless capacity as an ingredient. The restaurant's new best-seller is a whole chicken, pounded and stuffed with broccoli salad, a method that takes a free-range bird much further than it can ordinarily go. Meanwhile, her effort to deconstruct chicken salad, a Southern favorite, turns out better in theory.

Vivian hunts for ramps—an Appalachian wild leek—with renowned bacon purveyor Alan Benton near his home in the Tennessee countryside. The restaurant world goes wild over ramps, after a winter of few fresh vegetables. Vivian's "ramp dealer" brings her his freshest stash, foraged from the North Carolina mountains. Theo and Flo show off a piglet and a baby goat at the ag show.