Georgia Southern
Brassicaceae
Collards
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Georgia Southern (also called Creole) is a pre-1880 heirloom from the American South. It was a staple food for enslaved people and remains central to Southern foodways. It produces large, blue-green leaves with excellent cold tolerance.
Collards are a Southern staple that thrives in the PNW — our mild winters are perfect for them. Georgia Southern is a classic heirloom. Plant in spring for summer harvest, or in July for fall/winter harvest. The flavor after a frost is transcendent — nutty, sweet, without bitterness. They are essentially bulletproof in our climate.
Direct sow in early spring (March-April) or start indoors 4-6 weeks before transplanting. Collards are a large plant — space 18-24" apart (1 per sq ft full-size, or plant 4 per sq ft and harvest as baby greens). They are heavy feeders: work compost into the planting hole and side-dress monthly. Harvest outer leaves from the bottom up, leaving 5-6 inner leaves. Collards sweeten dramatically after frost — they are a fall and winter crop in the PNW. They will stand in the garden through winter, providing fresh greens when little else is growing.