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Learn more about Santa Fe College and the Florida Heritage Foods Project.
Collards
Brassica oleracea.
Collard’s roots reach back 2000 years to ancient Greek cuisine and today the highly nutritious vegetable is enjoyed throughout most of the world. Brought to the Americas during European colonialism, the easy to grow green became a staple crop. Today, collards are a common side dish in southern American cuisine, where they are often stewed with pork. Collard greens are also integrated into a variety of new dishes such as quiche, stuffed leaves, and layered in casseroles as an alternative to lasagna pasta.
There are many ways to enjoy collard greens. Add the collard recipe collection to your cookbook. View recipes with collard greens for some ideas on how to cook with these delicious greens.When cooked alone, collards contain no fat nor cholesterol. They are also low in calories and rich in nutrients such as vitamins A, C, K; folate; calcium; fiber (“Collard Greens”).
Collards are a cool-weather crop that are easy to grow in the Florida home garden. Once established, they are resilient to freezes and leaves can be harvested as needed from the bottom up throughout the winter and into the summer months. Planting usually occurs between August and February. Collard seeds can be started indoors in pots and transplanted into the garden or sown by seed directly into the ground. It is a good idea to improve the soil with compost a few weeks prior to planting, and to control weeds until the plants are well-established. (“Greens”).To Plan a heritage garden, download the ‘Planning a Florida Heritage Garden (PDF).’
'This page produced by Val Leitner, Sarah Cervone, Bhakti Gibson, and Gabriel Frank with content contributed by Courtney Williams in HUM2420: African Humanities
Learn more about Santa Fe College and the Florida Heritage Foods Project.
Funding for the Florida Heritage Foods Initiative: Connecting Local Food with Local Culture in Florida Farmers Markets was made possible by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service through grant Agreement Number 21FMPPFL1026-00. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the USDA.