Cabbage Collard variety description
Plants 19-26 inches tall by 35-42 inches wide. Leaves elliptic in shape with a wavy margin. Leaves have low blistering and light green petioles. Leaves are open to erect. Plants form moderate heads. Variety has variability. Two plants are not as yellow-green. They have light green leaves. Of these 2 plants 1 is more compact and upright in growth while the other is more spreading and much larger. Taste is sweet and texture is rather tender.
Cabbage Collard variety history
Ila Holman of Princeton, North Carolina began growing and saving seed of this variety in about 1955. Her son, Jerry Holman, continues to grow the collards. Ila explained that as early as 1915, her maternal grandfather, Jack Alcock of Johnston County, NC, was growing and saving seed of this variety. In 2004, Ila Holman gave collards 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 the variety in 2016 from the USDA Accession collection (PI 662796).
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.