Greens & herbs
Collards
The South's winter green, on its home ground.
- Indoors
- 6 wk (Jul)
- Outside
- Transplant Sep 1-20
- Where
- In ground or raised bed
- Sun
- Full sun; takes part shade
- Water
- Daily while roots take; soak winter beds in dry spells
- Harvest
- Nov to Feb, sweetest after frost
Care
- Water
- Daily for about two weeks at the September set-out, then taper as the rains return; winter beds mostly water themselves here, with a soak in a dry spell. Drought-built leaves come in thick and leathery and stay that way in the pot, so keep the fall run steady.
- Sow
- In cells in July, 2 seeds a quarter inch deep per cell, keep the stronger. Seedlings move out September 1 to 20 at eighteen inches down the bed, and one planting then stands for the whole winter greens season.
- Start inside
- No heat mat: July soil sprouts them fast, and the bench grows in sun with shade after 3 p.m., kept moist but not wet. Transplants go out at the front of the September window so the stalk has the whole fall to climb.
- Feed
- A heavy nitrogen feeder: compost at transplant, a side-dress as the fall run gets going, and again around the new year if the leaves pale. What it never gets is summer feed; the whole crop lives on the cool side of the calendar.
- Ready
- Take the lowest, oldest leaves first and let the crown climb, the plant becoming a stalk topped with new growth. Hard frost sweetens every leaf, and the best picking runs from the first freeze into February.
- Trouble
- Cabbageworms and loopers work it as hard as any brassica through the mild fall: net at transplant, or hand-pick weekly with Bt in reserve. Shothole speckling on young plants is flea beetles; cover new transplants until they outrun it.
In a bag?
- Yes
- Up to a 7–10 gal bag.
- Water
- Every day or two in a dry fall spell, tapering as the rains return; check the top half inch before you pour.
- Feed
- Top-dress monthly through the fall run; a bag leaches with every watering.
- Sow
- One plant per 7 to 10 gallon bag; it grows into a tall stalk, so the wider bag keeps it from toppling.
The South's winter green on its home ground: a July start, a September planting, and a stalk that stands and produces straight through the Killeen winter.
Growing
Collards take the heat that stops other greens and improve with frost, so the fall version here is generous. Cells in July, transplants out September 1 to 20 at eighteen inches, then harvest up the stalk, lowest leaves first, so each plant becomes a leggy palm tree of future dinners. The greens sheet's verdict is a long harvest, and the county's winter rule supplies it: ground that never freezes solid and a greens season that runs into February. Water daily while the transplants root out in September heat, feed through the cool run, and do not let the fall bed swing dry; leaves built in drought come in thick and leathery. The December and January leaves are the best of the year.
Varieties
The state greens sheet names Blue Max, Champion, Flash, Georgia Southern and Vates; the Travis County list repeats Champion, Flash and Georgia Southern at 55 to 75 days. Champion is the compact, cold-standing Vates type; Georgia Southern the sprawling heirloom with the classic flavor.
Pests
Cabbageworms and loopers work collards as hard as any brassica through the mild fall, so the family rules apply: netting at transplant, or weekly underside checks with Bt in reserve. Shothole speckling on young plants is flea beetles; cover new transplants until they outrun it.
In the kitchen
Slow-braised with something smoked until the pot likker is worth bread on its own, the southern winter green cooked the way the research note says it cooks. The same bowl sits easily on a Tex-Mex table beside a pot of beans and tortillas, and young leaves sliced thin make a raw slaw that holds its dressing overnight.