|
Post by Laura_in_FL on Mar 11, 2014 13:25:54 GMT -5
Considering the mild winters on the Gulf Coast, I wonder if they could possibly be a virtual perennial. Any clue? Collards will grow any time of year on the Gulf Coast. Unlike most brassicas they will tolerate the heat of Gulf Coast summers, and it never gets cold enough here to damage them. Everyone I know grows them as cool-weather annuals. But, I just did some web searching and apparently at least some collards and kale are perennials. Cool. Maybe I will try to make a permanent spot for some to try keeping them going. I don't know how many years to expect out of them, though. I also read that you can sweeten up the leaves of collards that were harvested in warm weather by putting them in the fridge for a couple of days before cooking. That makes me more interested in trying to over-summer some. There are also tree collards that get 5'-6' tall and apparently live for a number of years. These are normally sold as cuttings or rooted plants, since they don't come true from seed.
|
|
|
Post by Laura_in_FL on Mar 11, 2014 13:32:29 GMT -5
...Off topic, but one day he picked 15 five gallon buckets of okra to sell fom his garden! Wow...wonder how many plants he had to get that much okra?!? Considering that okra needs to be picked every day or two, just keeping the okra harvested must have taken a big chunk of his time in the summer. Sorry, back on topic now.
|
|
|
Post by meandtk on Mar 11, 2014 16:52:17 GMT -5
Tree collards? Do you know of a source? Yes, he picked daily. Retirement job :-)
|
|
|
Post by Laura_in_FL on Mar 12, 2014 10:10:48 GMT -5
If you want to see mature tree collards, here's a video made by a guy in California who has nice big plants: You can see that you need to stake them if you want them vertical. Reading around the 'net while looking for tree collards, I learned that tree collards prefer more moderate summers. So you may want to provide shade in the summer. But be sure they get lots of sun in the cool months. As to a source, the only one I have found is here: www.bountifulgardens.org/Tree-Collards/products/351/ (I have NOT purchased from this company before, so please don't take this as an endorsement.) Note that they are selling cuttings with instructions for rooting. The cuttings are not rooted. They recommend that Texas and Florida residents order in the fall. I assume this is to ensure that your plant is big and well established before being stressed by the heat. If you look in the comments to the YouTube video I posted above, there is contact information for the California nursery where he got his plants, but I have no idea whether they still sell them, or whether they will ship plants. If you do get some tree collards, please keep us posted about how they perform!
|
|
|
Post by daylilydude on Mar 30, 2014 19:13:34 GMT -5
Getting a great start...
|
|
|
Post by Laura_in_FL on Mar 31, 2014 8:43:39 GMT -5
Looking good, Rich!
A few of my collard plants are getting a re-start.
They had been big plants that I grew over the winter in an Earthbox, but I needed the EB for tomatoes. So I harvested them down to just a few tiny leaves around the growing tip. Then I dug them out of the EB and replanted them in a raised bed. They all survived the transplant and are looking good now, putting on new growth.
So I will see if I can over-summer them successfully, or if the harvest/transplant stress makes them bolt.
|
|
|
Post by ladymarmalade on Jun 1, 2015 13:44:15 GMT -5
I had to come back and update this thread now that I finally have collards alive and well. It's getting to be quite the plant, and today I snapped off a few of the leaves and sauteed them to see what I thought about them...
I'm a little bummed because I did not care for them. Ugh, that sulfuric quality is just too much. I grew up with a dad who worked in a paper plant all his life, and the collards smelled way too much like his work. I understand now why the preferred method for cooking them involves a long, slow braise- no doubt to try and leech out some of that funk.
I would eat them if they were served to me, so I didn't hate them, but I think I'd rather dedicate the growing space to something I like much better.
|
|
|
Post by Laura_in_FL on Jun 1, 2015 15:25:56 GMT -5
ladymarmalade, what variety did you grow? They don't all taste the same. And they really do taste much better harvested after a frost. But I know they are not for everyone. Funny thing, my MIL will eat collards (after they have been cooked thoroughly), but cannot abide to be in a house where they are being cooked because of the smell.
|
|
|
Post by ladymarmalade on Jun 2, 2015 18:53:24 GMT -5
I do not know the variety. I snagged the seed in one of the robins a few years back and simply wrote "collard greens" on the package.
I decided to leave the plant for now- I have some ham bones in the freezer and intend to give them a good, southern style low-and-slow braise and see if I like it that way. I can't give up with just one try!
|
|
|
Post by daylilydude on Jun 2, 2015 19:08:13 GMT -5
|
|
swamper
Pro Member
Posts: 208
Joined: March 2011
|
Post by swamper on Jun 2, 2015 21:11:56 GMT -5
I recall tomato mentioning a savoy variety of collards but I could not find it on a google search and now forget the name. I planted tiger f1 this year direct seeded and they look fine. Floating row covers help deter flea beetle damage on young seedlings. Collards seem to be as hardy as kale and do sweeten when the air gets cold. I always have some deer show up to clean up the leftovers, around the time the first snow falls.
|
|
|
Post by Laura_in_FL on Jun 3, 2015 8:27:31 GMT -5
I do not know the variety. I snagged the seed in one of the robins a few years back and simply wrote "collard greens" on the package. I decided to leave the plant for now- I have some ham bones in the freezer and intend to give them a good, southern style low-and-slow braise and see if I like it that way. I can't give up with just one try! There you go - low and slow with some pork. Though honestly I hope you don't give up on them without trying them harvested in the fall after a frost (if you have room to leave the plant until then). If you still don't like them, then you are just not a collards person, which means you are never allowed to move South of the Mason-Dixon line.
|
|
|
Post by ladymarmalade on Jun 5, 2015 12:36:37 GMT -5
Today is the day! I plucked off the largest leaves and have a good pound of greens to work with, so they will cook low and slow this afternoon.
I will also try to keep the plant going until fall. The cabbage moth may have other plans, but I will put in a hearty effort.
|
|
|
Post by ladymarmalade on Jun 5, 2015 17:46:40 GMT -5
Oh, I'm SO glad I didn't give up at first taste! I followed this recipe for the most part. allrecipes.com/recipe/southern-style-collard-greens/detail.aspxI didn't have the smoked hocks on hand, so I used a ham bone from the freezer, and then added some diced ham from earlier this week. The collards have been braising for two hours- I cannot believe how they have changed! I'm going to let them cook for another hour while the rest of dinner gets prepared, but I am not converted. And I'm going to need to make sure I have DH smoke the four pork hocks that are in the freezer. They may come in handy!
|
|
|
Post by Laura_in_FL on Jun 15, 2015 14:39:18 GMT -5
So, how did the final taste test go? Do we have some more collard converts now?
|
|
|
Post by ladymarmalade on Jun 15, 2015 16:27:44 GMT -5
So, how did the final taste test go? Do we have some more collard converts now? Ha-ha, yes, we are totally converted and the plant lives on. My son still thought I was trying to poison him, and my daughter only liked them mixed with her mashed potatoes, but the hubby and I could not get enough. I was just examining the plant a short while ago, to see if there were enough leaves yet for another round. Thanks for the encouragement to keep trying!
|
|
|
Post by daylilydude on Jun 15, 2015 18:43:02 GMT -5
and my daughter only liked them mixed with her mashed potatoes Hmmmm... something I need to try... sounds tasty...
|
|
|
Post by Laura_in_FL on Jun 16, 2015 13:00:46 GMT -5
Hurray! One more tip: cornbread. You have to have that to soak up all the tasty juices. Although it sounds as though mashed potatoes might work for that, too. I've never tried that before.
|
|
|
Post by paquebot on Aug 6, 2015 23:25:43 GMT -5
For past 6 or 7 years, I've been supplying a lot of my friends with yellow collards. Until then, they had mostly grown the standard Georgia. Something told me that it was time for a change this year so I started Willis along with the yellow. Zero germination with my yellow so friends had to take Willis. Nothing but rave reviews in return and now all want a repeat of Willis next year. Will do!
Martin
|
|
|
Post by ladymarmalade on Aug 23, 2015 8:10:10 GMT -5
For past 6 or 7 years, I've been supplying a lot of my friends with yellow collards. Until then, they had mostly grown the standard Georgia. Something told me that it was time for a change this year so I started Willis along with the yellow. Zero germination with my yellow so friends had to take Willis. Nothing but rave reviews in return and now all want a repeat of Willis next year. Will do! Martin It makes me laugh to read that you've been supplying friends with collards. We shared some... and were promptly told by the people we shared with that we should not ever share collard greens again. I'm going to remember to look for Willis for next year. I think I'm going to devote space in my community plot next year to collards and kale. They're just too big for my home garden. I keep accidentally breaking leaves off when I walk past.
|
|
|
Post by Laura_in_FL on Aug 23, 2015 9:47:28 GMT -5
Hah... ladymarmalade, when you shared your collards, did you tell those folks the proper way to cook them? If not, I'm not surprised that their reaction. I can't help but imagine your friends giving the collard greens a quick sautee and then trying to chew what resulted.
|
|
|
Post by ladymarmalade on Aug 23, 2015 12:40:41 GMT -5
Lol, yes, The Garden Boy delivered cooking instructions with the collards. Whether they followed them or not, I have no idea. They really are meat-and-potato kind of people though, with a few veggies thrown in from time to time for health purposes, so it didn't totally surprise me. I've gotten a few people converted to the joys of Swiss Chard, but greens just don't come naturally to us northerners. I'm going to try freezing some of the collards and see how they do with that. I read on to blanch collards for 3 minutes before freezing. I'm curious how they will cook up after freezing. I'm suspecting that with the blanching/freezing process, they may not need as long of a cook time.
|
|
|
Post by Laura_in_FL on Aug 24, 2015 8:28:36 GMT -5
I'm sure freezing would cut down on the cooking time, but I'm not sure how much.
I don't freeze collards, because if I froze collards I would be freezing them in winter for summer use...and there are so many other veggies to eat in the summer that I don't really miss collards then.
|
|