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Post by mgulfcoastguy on Aug 7, 2019 21:26:49 GMT -5
I ordered the seeds from Bakers Creek. Any experience with them?
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Post by meandtk on Aug 7, 2019 21:50:59 GMT -5
Mine don’t head, but twist as though heading toward ahead. They are good though.
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Post by mgulfcoastguy on Aug 7, 2019 21:56:55 GMT -5
Do you transplant or direct sow and then thin out the extras?
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Post by meandtk on Aug 7, 2019 22:03:42 GMT -5
mgulfcoastguy, I direct sow. I never thin as I should. They are very hardy. Had I not turned them under, last year’s planting would still be growing. I probably could have pruned them and harvested many times.
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Post by mgulfcoastguy on Aug 7, 2019 22:08:23 GMT -5
Good to know. I’m thinking of planting in one location and transplanting a few to a second location. Also ordered: lettuce, crook neck, and pattypan.
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Post by meandtk on Aug 7, 2019 22:46:32 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on May 5, 2020 7:08:29 GMT -5
Collards live thru the winter here and furnish nice new leaves in spring. If left alone they will produce oodles of seed. I turned mine under, broadcast a wide row and will have to thin.
They are so prone to insects here that I seldom harvest during hot weather, but get all the leaves I want in late Fall and in Spring.
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dirtguy50
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My avatar got in trouble for digging in the garden
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Post by dirtguy50 on May 5, 2020 7:19:51 GMT -5
oxankle2, where is here?
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Post by brownrexx on May 5, 2020 7:32:29 GMT -5
I grew collards once but the bugs loved them and I had to keep them covered so I switched to growing Swiss Chard which is pest free.
Even when covered my collards got infested with some kind of caterpillar that I had never seen before. The caterpillars were brown and skeletonized the leaves before I even realized that they were there. They grew back but I didn't grow them again.
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Post by Deleted on May 5, 2020 13:16:01 GMT -5
Dirtguy; I am almost on the Mo border in Ark, about35 miles SE of Branson, Mo.
B Rex; I spray my collards with liquid Sevin just often enough that the bugs do not skeletonize them. By fall they are three feet high and most of the lower leaves are ruined. When cool weather comes the new leaves are tender and clean. They take the winter well, and as soon as we get any kind of milder weather they produce like crazy.
By the time I pull the roots and turn them under the stalks may be more than two inches thick, and some will have developed side stalks.
By the way; I read somewhere that chard goes thru the winter. Is this so?
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Post by brownrexx on May 5, 2020 17:16:42 GMT -5
@oxankle2, I garden organically so no Sevin here. I could use a different cover but I just don't feel that it's worth the effort since we didn't like the collards all that much.
I have never tried to overwinter the Swiss Chard and we roto till the garden in the Fall so any chard left would be killed but I plant my chard from seed in the early spring and it will produce all summer and well into the Fall. It can take the cold.
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dirtguy50
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My avatar got in trouble for digging in the garden
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Post by dirtguy50 on May 5, 2020 20:27:56 GMT -5
oxankle2, we are neighbors. I am about 35 mile straight north of Branson. That is useful information. Thanks. Cool!
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Post by Deleted on May 6, 2020 10:10:57 GMT -5
LOL, DIRTGUY: Thirty five miles N. of Branson would put you about 50 to 60 miles N. of me. Also, I am withing a quarter mile of Bull Shoals lake at elevation 725 or so.
Collards are tough, and I've heard Chard is also. Worth a try. I certainly like my early Spring collard greens.
You only need to winter 4 or 5 stalks to get regular fresh greens for meals in the Spring as they continue to put on new leaves. If you plant them this Spring or Summer they will be BIG plants by Fall. I have not had even one freeze out. They Will go to seed in late Spring, so get those fresh green leaves before that.
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Post by brownrexx on May 6, 2020 12:53:59 GMT -5
Collards are tough, and I've heard Chard is also I don't know if you mean tough in texture or tough to grow but Swiss Chard leaves are not tough at all and are super easy to grow here. I only need a few plants to provide us with all of the greens that we want and some for freezing. I actually have to cut them back during the summer and compost the leaves because we have so many vegetables that we can not keep up with eating them all. I like to grow the Rainbow variety because it is so pretty not because it tastes any different than the one with green leaves and only red stems. Chard does not seem to mind the heat or the cold and I get no insect damage at all. Easy Peasy.
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Post by Deleted on May 6, 2020 17:26:37 GMT -5
Rex; by tough I meant "able to take adversity". Cooked with a bit of pork hock or ham (I much prefer the salt pork) I find them delicious.
When we cook them I cut the leaves from the plant, then cut out the center stem. After that I stack the leaves and slice them across the leaf so that no cooked piece is very large.
I did not grow up with collards, so I'm sure there are better ways known to those in the deep South. (Tell us, please?)
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Post by Laura_in_FL on May 8, 2020 10:18:02 GMT -5
The key with collards is "low and slow" cooking. They need much more time than mustard or turnip greens if you want them tender. My family doesn't have a written-down recipe for collards; it's done by taste. But this recipe will gets you pretty close: www.allrecipes.com/recipe/235931/southern-style-collard-greens/You can sub other meats for the ham hocks. You want a salty, smoky cut of pork or turkey. Salt pork, bacon, ham, or smoked turkey are all commonly used. And I would say two hours is a minimum cook time for the collards. If they are not tender enough for you after two hours, let 'em cook for another hour. Mom also swore by cooking them in a big, deep cast iron pan. P.S. It's very nearly a crime in the Deep South to serve collards without corn bread! You're supposed to use the corn bread to soak up the liquid ("pot liquor" or "pot likker"), too.
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