Who’d have ever thought collards had an interesting history
dating back to prehistoric
times? That’s right. Washed down, cooked up, piled up by the
side of a slab of cornbread:
collards.

One of the most primitive members of the cabbage group, these
leafy, nonheading
cabbages originated in the eastern Mediterranean. They are much
like the wild forms of
cabbage in Asia Minor first used for food in prehistoric
times.

Collards were cultivated by the ancient Greeks and Romans,
and either the Romans or the
Celts introduced them to Britain and France. They reached the
British Isles in 400 B.C.
The first mention of collards in America was in 1669. But they
may have been here much
earlier.

Collards (also known as tree cabbage or nonheading cabbage)
are cool-season vegetable
greens rich in vitamins and minerals. They grow better in warm
weather and can tolerate
more cold weather in the late fall than any other member of the
cabbage family.

Popular substitutes for cabbage in the South, collards can
also be grown in northern
areas because of their tolerance to frost. They’re close kin to
kale.

Two good varieties grow especially well in Georgia.

The first, Georgia, takes 75 days to mature. It has large,
crumpled, blue-green leaves,
is tolerant to heat and cold and offers good yields.

Vates also takes 75 days to mature. It has large, crumpled,
dark green leaves, holds
color in cold weather, resists bolting and offers good
yields.

Plant collards in early spring for summer harvest and again
in midsummer for fall and
early winter harvest.

For best results, sow seed one-quarter to one-half inch deep.
Thin seedlings to 6 to 12
inches apart to allow enough space for the plants to mature. You
can eat the thinned
plants.

Allow at least 3 feet between rows, because the plants become
quite large. For early
production in fall or spring, use transplants.

If you keep the soil moist enough during hot spells in the
summer, collards will
produce an abundant harvest.

All green parts of the plant are edible. You may harvest them
anytime during the
growing season. Plants grown 6 inches apart can be cut to the
ground when they get 6 to 10
inches tall.

As an alternative way to harvest, pick the large leaves when
the plants are 10 to 12
inches high. This allows the younger leaves to develop for later
use.

Some gardeners prefer the young, tender leaves and cut the
inner rosette of young
growth. You can blanch this “loose head” by tying the outer
leaves together to
keep out the sun.

Don’t worry about fall frost. It only improves the flavor.