Collard Greens are a member of the Cabbage Family.  These large leafed cooking greens are a staple of Southern Cooking, delicious, and full of vitamins and nutrients.  We try to wait to harvest our Collards until we get some nice cold temperatures.  Near freezing temperatures push the plant into “survival mode”.  The plant will take its’ energy and convert it into sugars to store in the cells.  These sugars act as an anti-freeze for the plants.  These fresh, cold harvested Collards are nice and sweet!

Storage and Handling:

Store Collard Greens in a loosely closed plastic bag in your refrigerator for up to a week.

* Farmers tip:  I like to take one of the many plastic shopping bags I have under my sink (from the times I foolishly forget my canvas bags at home) and put the Collards in leaf-end first.  Then I wrap the handles around the bottom of the stems.  This will keep the leaves crisp and fresh and expose just the end of the stems, which you discard before cooking anyways!

Culinary Uses:

Most recipes you find for Collard Greens with be Southern Inspired and made with a ham hock or bacon.  While this is absolutely delicious, it’s also very easy to make tasty collard greens that are vegetarian too.

Collards are most often braised, or par-boiled and sautéed.  I recommend taking the little time it takes to de-stem them.  The stem is often tough and fibrous.