Popular Varieties

Vates, Morris Heading, Georgia, Cabbage-Collard, and Green Glaze are popular varieties. One-fourth ounce of seed is sufficient to plant 100 feet of row. There are about 8,000 seeds per ounce.

Collards are hardy and may be planted in the spring about 4 to 6 weeks before the last spring frost and again in the fall about 6 to 8 weeks before the first fall frost. Prepare the soil as suggested for chard. Broadcast 4 pints of fertilizer, such as 10-10-10, per 50 feet of row and mix it thoroughly with the soil before planting. Rows are normally 3 to 4 feet apart.

Collards may be seeded directly in the garden or transplanted. When seeding directly in the garden, plant the seed 1/4-inch deep and about 1 inch apart in the row. Seedlings will emerge in about 5 days. Plants may be left at the seeded spacing, or thinned to 6, 12, or 18 inches apart depending on how they will be harvested. The plants pulled out in thinning may serve as transplants or trimmed and used as greens.

Harlequin bug. Adult.

Transplants may be grown in protected beds in the spring and in open plant beds in the summer. Seeds are planted in individual containers, flats, or rows in ground beds about 4 to 6 weeks before time to transplant into the garden. When plants are 6 to 8 inches tall, set them in the garden row 12 to 18 inches apart, and water well.

About a month after planting in the garden, sidedress collards as suggested for chard.

Control weeds by hoeing or mulching. Insects that may cause problems include cabbage worms, aphids, harlequin bugs, and root maggots. Two diseases that may cause damage are downy mildew and black leg. General control measures are the same as suggested previously for chard.

Collards may be harvested by three general methods, or a combination of the three. The entire young plant may be cut off at ground level just as are mustard greens, the entire mature plant may be cut off at the ground, or the bottom leaves may be stripped off the plant periodically leaving the bud to grow and produce more leaves. The last method is most popular with home gardeners since it entails making only one planting, and spring-planted collards may be continuously harvested throughout the summer and into winter.

When the entire small or immature plants are to be harvested, successive plantings may be made at 2- to 3-week intervals. Immature plants may be harvested about 40 days and mature plants about 75 days after planting.

Collards tend to improve in flavor as the weather becomes cooler in the fall. Many gardeners do not harvest the fall crop until after the first frost. Leaves remain tender and edible for several weeks after they reach maturity or full size.

Yields vary from 1/3 to 1 1/2 pounds per foot of row, depending on harvesting methods used.

KALE (Brassica oleraceae var. acephala) is a native of Europe and recorded use dates back to 200 B.C. Like collards, it is a member of the cabbage family and is grown for its succulent leaves and stems.

A hardy vegetable, kale can be overwintered in latitudes as far north as southern Pennsylvania and in areas having similar winter conditions. It is also quite heat-resistant and may grow in the summer, but its greatest value is as a cool weather green. No other vegetable is so well adapted to fall sowing in areas having winters of moderate severity.

One serving of cooked kale has 21 calories. It provides an average adult with all his daily requirements of Vitamin A and Vitamin C as well as 13% of his daily calcium requirement.

Temperature, soil, fertility, and moisture conditions for kale are the same as previously suggested for collards.

Vates, Dwarf Siberian, and Dwarf Blue Scotch are good standard varieties. Seed may be planted in the spring 4 to 6 weeks before the last killing frost, and in the fall 6 to 8 weeks before the first killing frost. There are about 10,000 seeds per ounce.

Rows may be 18 to 24 inches apart. Seed is planted in the row an inch apart and a half inch deep. Seedlings will emerge in 3 to 5 days. Plants may be left as thick as seeded or gradually thinned until they are 8 to 14 inches apart. The plants pulled out in thinning may be used as greens.

Pests and pest control for kale are similar to those suggested previously for collards.

Kale may be harvested in one of two ways. The entire young plants may be cut off at ground level, about 40 days after seeding. This process is used when the plants are left unthinned after seeding.

When plants are spaced 8 to 14 inches apart, the lower leaves are stripped off periodically while the bud and a rosette of leaves are left to continue growth for future harvests. This second harvest method requires about 50 to 60 days from seeding to first harvest. Leaves should be harvested before they become old, tough, and woody.

A foot of row will produce about a half pound of kale greens.