Cabbage Collard variety description
Plants 18-20 inches tall and 25-45 inches in diameter. Erect leaves are highly blistered, drooping, with a light green petiole. Plants form a well-developed head. Leaves are ovate to spatulate in shape and have a wavy margin. Two distinct types seen in this planting. Two plants have yellow-green leaves, 2 plants have lighter green leaves, and 8 plants darker green leaves. Of the 8 plants with darker green leaves 3 are very blistered and ruffled and more compact. 1 plant with darker green leaves is more spreading and very large. Average eating qualities. Had some minor damage when low temperatures reached 20 F for several days.
Cabbage Collard variety history
Seed steward Gerald Brown of Goldsboro, North Carolina, received this variety in 1995 from Lonnie Killete, who received it in 1960 from a gardener named Floyd Jones. It is said that Mr. Jones had been saving seeds “for many years before that time.” In 2004, Gerald Brown gave collard seeds to Dr. John Morgan, a cultural geographer and professor of geography at Emory & Henry College, who was collecting heirloom collard strains for preservation on behalf of the USDA Accession. Seed Savers Exchange requested this variety in 2016 from the USDA Accession collection (G 32548).
Seed Status:
This variety is low quantity in the Seed Savers Exchange collection and is in need of regeneration. We are actively looking for more seed stewards willing to regenerate and steward this variety. Please get in touch if you are interested. Email collards@seedsavers.org.