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Vegetable Gardening
janice8bcharlestonsc

I'm still growing stuff outdoors

janice8bcharlestonsc
7 years ago

It is 66 degrees, and tomorrow is supposed to be 75. My broccoli has started seeding. They look and act like broccoli, not collards. I harvested collards for the first time. Can anybody tell me if collards can be harvested like Leaf Lettuce in a 'cut and come again" fashion?

Featured Answer
  • daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
    7 years ago

    We are harvesting collards hand-over-fist. We always harvest them leaf by leaf. One huge leaf makes a nice salad. Do you mean, as opposed to pulling the whole plant? Egads, don't do that!

    Comments (13)

    • janice8bcharlestonsc
      Original Author
      7 years ago

      I have never grown collards before. I harvested outside leaves only, the biggest ones. Do you just cut them up and eat them raw?

    • farmerdill
      7 years ago

      Collards can be done either way. Many folks start harvesting the lower leaves and in February have a 4 foot stalk with tuft of leaves at the top. I prefer to cut the whole plant when it is ready. I usually grow cabbage collards which form a loose head. The center leaves are much more tender and tasty for me. I also prefer collards as a boiling green rather than raw.


      janice8bcharlestonsc thanked farmerdill
    • janice8bcharlestonsc
      Original Author
      7 years ago

      I am boiling the small harvest from today. I added smoked bacon and sugar.

    • janice8bcharlestonsc
      Original Author
      7 years ago

      I will try some raw.

    • daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
      7 years ago
      last modified: 7 years ago

      Yep, my collard plants are each about 3 feet across, and the lower leaves are more than a foot long. Can use them in salads or stir fry. Or thrown on pizza. Whatever. My daughter doesn't like them much fresh in salad, as their tang is somewhat strong, but wife and I do. Milder when cooked. They grow fast and it's frankly hard to keep up with them.

      janice8bcharlestonsc thanked daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
    • daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
      7 years ago
      last modified: 7 years ago

      BTW, it has always puzzled me that collards have ended up being considered a "southern" vegetable. The plant is extraordinary hardy at low temperatures that are almost totally irrelevant in the south. I think it used to be denigrated as cheap or degenerate cabbage. It could be that collards also happen to be tolerant of temperatures somewhat higher than most lettuce or cabbages. It used to be marketed largely in the south, but is now available in markets across the country. Very high in nutritional value. Definitely an underused and underappreciated vegetable.

      janice8bcharlestonsc thanked daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
    • PcolaGrower
      7 years ago

      Looking good Janet, glad to see you're harvesting stuff. I've been busy myself. I harvested lots of tomatoes, got my first brocolli answer will cut collards soon.

      My brocolli

      Plus I have all my starts growing inside

    • janice8bcharlestonsc
      Original Author
      7 years ago

      Looking good Kevin. That is quite a broccoli. My broccoli is running late, finally see some little seed heads forming.

      You have serious new starts and look at that grow light. That looks like a serious light. The short sunlight days have not slowed you down one bit.

      Santa is bringing me tomato seeds. I will be starting new plants soon.

      Dan, sometimes the twang in some of those brassicas gets to me. Adding to pizza should work though. 15 min at 375 should calm them down.

      Where I am now they call Arugula "rocket". My family grew and ate collards, but there was no rocket. They also grew cabbage. Most of it got boiled, some cabbage wound up in the slaw. I do not recall the collards being preserved. I do recall the wide variety of "greens'' though. Nothing went to waste. Turnip, mustard, and Polk(grew on the side of the road I believe.).


    • daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
      7 years ago
      last modified: 7 years ago

      Yes, Janice. Raw collards can be "twangy". I like salads that bite back a bit, though. Arugula does have it's own oomph, however. Hardly a delicate green. I believe young collard leaves are milder, and I think the same is true for arugula. When I first grew collards, we fried 'em up like everyone else does. But then we realized that they were a marvelous addition to many dishes. If you harvest the whole plant, you'd better have an army to feed.

    • LoneJack Zn 6a, KC
      7 years ago

      Nothing growing in my garden anymore except for the stuff like garlic and bunching onions that overwinter. I pulled the last 2 Brussels Sprouts on Saturday because we were forecast for -2 on Sunday morning. It actually got down to -12 at my house. Brrrrrr! I hung the BS in the garage and we will have them with Christmas dinner. I will be starting onions from seed on New Years day so the gardening cycle starts anew.

    • lazy_gardens
      7 years ago

      I think the experience of overcooked collards with way too much fatback might have something to do with their lack of popularity,

      It needs re-branding with something fancier, like "dalmatian cabbage" or to be discovered as the Brazilian miracle food, "couve".

    • PRO
      Landmark Horticultural Management
      7 years ago

      we harvested spinach today. Yup, broke them out of the hardpacked snow and they look fine We took all the carrots and turnips last week before the snow. The collards we took last week as well. Here in the north they become much sweeter after a couple of hard frosts, same with parsnips. Collards we generally just cut em up and toss them in a cast iron skillet with onions and turnips, ginger, nutmeg, garlic, salt and pepper....


      yum!

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