Georgia Collard

Seed Count: Approx. 300 seeds

Days to Maturity: 65 Days

Description: Georgia collard is a beloved Southern favorite, grown for its tastiness, winter hardiness, and ease of growing.  This collard produces high yielding, tender, blue-green leaves with mild, sweet, cabbage flavor.  It has unsurpassed classic collard taste.  Georgia collards taste even sweeten with frost.  The non-heading plants can grow to about 30-36 inches tall.  This variety is both heat and frost tolerant, making it easy to grow in the South and up North. Plus, it tolerates humidity, and poor soil conditions.   It's the perfect collard variety for classic Southern styled collard greens. 

How To Grow

Sowing:  Sow seeds 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep. Seeds need soil temperatures between 50-75 degrees F to germinate.  Sow 3 seeds every 18 inches, with rows 2 ft. apart.  Thin all but the strongest seedlings. This plant is ideal for raised beds, but can be grown in containers and grow bags if they are big enough.  I managed to successfully grow a 3 ft. plant in a 2 gallon container. 

Growing:  Collards need regular water and a good compost or fertilizer at least once a month. i feed mine fish emulsion once a month.  Companion plant with dill, rosemary, sage, thyme, chamomile, potatoes, celery, beets, onions, mint, and nasturtiums. They will over winter in most areas. In fact, collards are most tender and delicious after frost. The waxy leaf surface reduces cabbage worms. Use a row cover when transplanting, if needed.

Harvesting:  To harvest avoid the oldest leaves. Harvest by cutting upper leaves (if you wish to keep an on going crop), otherwise harvest the entire plant. Dunk harvested leaves in cold water to wash, store at 32˚F. Collards are most tender and delicious after a frost, and you can continue to harvest even after snow. To save seeds, allow the plant to flower and go to seed. After the pods dry and the seeds inside are dark brown, remove them from the plant, and dry them completely indoors. Clean off as much chaff as possible, then store the seeds in a cool, dry place.  Store seeds for up to 5 years.