Collard greens have a long chronicle dating back at least a few thousand years , when people of the northerly Mediterranean protrude civilize wild moolah . From that one industrial plant , which most likely originated in Asia before its recorded history , Farmer created flora as diverse as the human population .
Broccoli , Brassica oleracea botrytis , Brussels stock , kale , savoy , kohlrabi and collard greens all belong to the same mintage , make them sibling on the taxonomic family tree diagram .
Many cuisines around the world boil greens . This practice is ubiquitous in African land . One of my favourite knockout is gomen wat , a vegetarian Ethiopian stew ( wat ) that aggregate spices and churn Green ( gomen ) . The dish is transported from plate to sassing with pieces of injera — a yummy , spongy textured , fermented flatbread .
African slaves in the United States examine to replicate dish antenna reminiscent of their native nation by combining unwanted collard greens , vegetable and meats . The leftover juices , known as pot likker , were consumed by soaking it up with cornbread .
Read more : Collard greens volunteer growers year - round nutrition .
Headless Powerhouse
Collards are more heat- and cold-blooded - kind than many other vegetables , provide for an extended growing time of year . They contain a lot of protein and minerals but few calories . One cupful of cooked collard putting green leave 212 percent daily time value of vitamin A , 39 per centum vitamin C and 18 percentage Ca .
In that same single serving , collards ply nine time the daily value of vitamin K.
Although a member of the cabbage family , collard greens do n’t form a cardinal head . They are part of the acephala radical . ( Acephala is Latin for “ without a nous . ” ) The word “ collard ” comes from the Anglo - Saxon word colewort , which have in mind cabbage .
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These headless cabbages are then , of class , grown for their leaves , which savour dulcet after a easy icing . As the temperature flatten , collards , just like their siblings , break down their salt away starch into glucose and other sugars , resulting in a fresh penchant .
turn your own collards lets you harvest the leaf at the optimum time . Gardening Solutions / Flickr
Growing Greens
To prepare the dirt , drudge to at least 10 inches , as collards ’ roots can hold out 2 feet or more . The loosening of the soil appropriate the small eater roots to expand their hunting for nutrients and water . Add organic matter if the soil is mostly sand or clay .
circulate a layer of 4 - inch compost over the planting area .
Plants can be started from transplants or directly sown in the garden . transplant always sour better for me . Collard seeds germinate when the soil temperature reach 45 degree Fahrenheit . On ordinary , the germ come up after 6 to 12 days .
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The colder the soil is , the more time the seeds take to sprout .
For a fall crop , plant seeds 80 Day before the frost engagement . ( For the spring crop , I begin the seed in my greenhouse about a month before I desire to transplant them into the ground . ) Space seedling 18 to 24 inches aside .
Using hay - Basel twine , I tie the small plants to a patch of wood or bamboo to ensure they grow square .
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Collards require a lot of atomic number 7 to develop dark unripe leaves . If plants become a pallid green , add a small more fertilizer such as a 10 - 10 - 10 . One cup of fertilizer for a 10 - foot row should be enough .
irrigate the plants good once a hebdomad if it does n’t rain . Because of the canopy of the collard greens , sess are usually not a problem . If weeds die hard , rend them or cautiously hit them using a hoe . undesirable plant slip collard greens ’ nutrients and water system .
Common pests include aphids , harlequin hemipteran and cabbage looper .
For constitutive pest options , manually get rid of the bug or use a Bt - based insect powder and sulfur , which can help with many disease . Neem crude also help if plants show spot on the leaves , indicating a fungus .
take more : Row covering offers protective covering from plague and extends your growing season .
Varieties for Your Garden
Harvesting Help
While some hoi polloi harvest the intact collard light-green plant , it ’s more common to remove a few of the low leave from each works . This permit the plant keep grow and produce more leaves .
If the central stalk of the leaf is great than half an inch , it can be tough and unpleasant to eat . ready such leaves for half a twenty-four hour period softens them up . For flying recipes , remove the root with a tongue by folding the leaf in one-half . you’re able to save the stem for vegetable caudex .
you may also add the stalks to a bag of frozen vegetables such as carrot knobs , Apium graveolens dulce leaves , herb stems and Allium cepa hide , all of which make a delightful soup root .
Once you have a pile of destemmed collards , ramble them and give them a rough chop . localize the chop leaves into a deep water - bath for half a minute to remove the debris .
Now you ’re ready to start prepare a mess o ’ Green .
Recipes
Ethiopian - Style Collards
factor
planning
contribute to a boiling point chopped collard commons in 6 cups of piss and then reduce heat to moo .
Cover for 20 instant until collards are tender .
oestrus European olive tree oil and onions over medium passion until brown .
shake in Allium sativum , cooked collard and their liquid .
Simmer uncovered for about 10 to 15 minutes until liquid is almost evaporated .
Add fleeceable pepper slices , lemon juice and remaining spices . Cook for an additional 5 minutes .
Vegetarian-Style Collards
In large pot , sauté Allium cepa in petroleum and butter over average heat until damp . Add red pepper flakes and ail , cooking for an additional minute
add together collard Green , falsify another minute . tally vegetable stock and simmer for 40 minute until greens are sore .
serve well with chop Lycopersicon esculentum .
Southern-Style Collards
Cook jambon hocks in water in deadening cooker on high for 3 60 minutes or until pinnace .
Sauté collard leafy vegetable , onion plant , white pepper , ail , acetum and seasonings . Add droop vegetables to retard cooker . ( They need to be wilt first to correspond into the obtuse cooker ) .
insure and make on downhearted for 4 to 6 hour .
Serve with cornbread .
This article originally appeared in the May / June 2019 payoff ofHobby Farmsmagazine .
