Collards
Collards are incredibly hearty greens with rich and complex histories, strong enough to be a staple in hot climates and to be able to withstand harsh winters and come out sweeter on the other side. Cook these greens down a bit and they are melt-in-your-mouth delicious.
Collard Greens
Collard Greens growing at Eloisa Organic Farm in Albany, Oregon
Collard greens are like the spinach of the Brassica family. Hearty yet tender leaves cook down to be melt-in-your-mouth delicious, can be used in any recipe that calls for kale, and have a deeply rich history that farmers are working to keep alive.
In 2016, a handful of seed-saving organizations came together to found The Heirloom Collard Project, including the Seed Savers Exchange, Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, and the Culinary Breeding Network, just to name a few. The goal was simple. Keep alive the thriving diversity of collard green varieties as well as the food traditions and connections they fuel, all while increasing visibility in seed catalogues and educating about all that collard greens have to offer. In 2020, Collard Week was created for “collard-focused education and celebration,” which can be found on YouTube here.
Pacific Northwest farmer and writer, Melony Edwards, wrote to the program’s success and the complex history of collard greens in this piece titled, The Heirloom Collard Project is a Surprisingly Northwest Success. She writes, “This hearty vegetable carries a lofty legacy in addition to its nutritional value (it’s high in vitamin A, C and calcium, among others), and grows almost effortlessly in the seemingly barren wintered grounds. Collards, aka the “headless cabbage,” is one of the oldest members of the Brassica family… Full of fiber and antioxidants with the choice to eat them raw or cooked, over 70 different varieties of collard greens exist ranging in deep shades of green, to light yellow-green, glossy and even purple!”
Collard-inspired artwork by Natalie Daise. Find her work on instagram @gullahmama and available for sale at nataliedaiseart.com.
21 Collard varieties (image from article above)
From The Heirloom Collard Project, “Ashleigh Shanti will lead a cooking demonstration and discourse on cooking with collards. Her 4-way Collard Salad celebrates the whole plant and includes raw collard leaves, pureed collard leaf dressing, quick-pickled collard stems and a collard chip garnish!”