{"title":"Collard Seeds","description":"\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\" data-mce-style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eCollards are native to Europe like their close cousins cabbage and kale, but probably first came to North America from Africa during the era of the transatlantic slave trade. Collard greens could be found in nearly every kitchen garden tended by enslaved people throughout the Southern United States before emancipation, grown as a supplement to the unhealthy rations provided by plantation owners. For this reason, collards remain an important symbol of African American cultural resilience and a key ingredient in Southern cooking today. Traditionally, a “mess” of collards is cooked with fatback or ham hock and often combined with other greens like mustard. Oftentimes it is the green in Hoppin’ John, a delicious Southern dish with greens, rice, and black-eyed peas, traditionally served on New Year’s Day for good luck. Collards are typically planted in spring and fall. They taste sweeter after a frost, but can handle summer heat too. For storage, young collard leaves can be blanched in boiling water, cooled, and then frozen.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"collards-champion","title":"Collard Seeds - Champion","description":"\u003ch2 style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003e\n\u003cem\u003eBrassica oleracea\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eThis Vates-type collard with dark blue-green foliage was selected for increased bolt resistance, giving you a longer harvest window in summer. It’s still very winter-hardy too! This tried and true favorite was developed by the Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station and introduced in 1979.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e1.75 gram packet contains a minimum of 250 seeds. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"- Collards -","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":37229975437481,"sku":"031-001-1-C","price":3.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2550\/8730\/products\/Collard_Champion_CK_logo.jpg?v=1751475146"},{"product_id":"collards-georgia-southern","title":"Collard Seeds - Georgia Southern","description":"\u003ch2 style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eBrassica oleracea\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eHEIRLOOM. Georgia Southern, aka True Southern or Creole, collards were introduced around 1880. These 2- to 3-foot tall plants have blue-green, slightly savoyed leaves with a tender texture and cabbage-like flavor. Tolerant of heat, cold, and poor soils for an easy harvest almost anywhere.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e1.75 gram packet contains a minimum of 250 seeds.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"- Collards -","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":33143920427085,"sku":"031-002-1-C","price":3.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2550\/8730\/products\/Collard_GeorgiaSouthern_pixabay.jpg?v=1627921317"},{"product_id":"collard-morris-heading","title":"Collard Seeds - Morris Heading","description":"\u003ch2 style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eBrassica oleracea\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eHEIRLOOM. Morris Heading, aka Carolina Cabbage, collards are an old-time favorite known for forming a very loose, cabbage-like head of smooth, dark green leaves. They are prized for being very slow to bolt in summer.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1.75 gram packet contains a minimum of 250 seeds.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"- Collards -","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":38014686003369,"sku":"031-004-1-C","price":3.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2550\/8730\/files\/beatrice_greenhouse_photoshoot-26.jpg?v=1726249127"},{"product_id":"collard-purple-ultracross","title":"Collard Seeds - Purple Ultracross","description":"\u003ch2 style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eBrassica oleracea\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrom the Utopian Seed Project, this collection of purple-tinged collards is the beginning of an all-purple Ultracross, selected from the original cold-hardy selections first planted in 2020. There’s a beautiful diversity of leaf shapes and color combinations in this highly adaptive and evolving collection of collards. Growing and selecting favorites from this mixture is an opportunity to be a part of this nationwide community science backyard breeding project.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e1.75\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e gram packet contains a minimum of 250 seeds.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eSMALL FARM GROWN by the Appalachian Seed Grower's Collective\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"- Collards -","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44998970146985,"sku":"031-008-1-C","price":4.75,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2550\/8730\/files\/PXL_20240225_134657694.jpg?v=1734124257"},{"product_id":"collard-seeds-north-carolina-ultracross","title":"Collard Seeds - North Carolina Ultracross","description":"\u003ch2 style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(255, 42, 0);\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eSold out for 2026\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003ch2 style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eBrassica oleracea\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp id=\"m_238010080857167796gmail-docs-internal-guid-e079de4c-7fff-f537-8ad0-929c55016438\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe North Carolina Collard Cross was developed across the 2024-2025 biennial season. Part of the ‘Collard Atlas', Utopian Seed Project’s collaboration with researcher Chris Keeve, this cross is the result of cross-pollination between 13 different collard varieties collected from North Carolina, including Nobling, North Carolina Yellow, Willis, Fuzzy’s Cabbage Collard, Old Timey Blue, William Moore, Minnie Mizelle, Ellen Felton, Hard Headed Cabbage Collard, Susan Turner, Brickhouse Old, EB Paul, and Bill’s Pea Ridge. They were stewarded by farmers and gardeners across the state as well as grown together at Tierra Negra Farm in Durham, North Carolina, before being processed and threshed at a seedkeeping workshop led by Chris Keeve at Duke Campus Farm.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMost of these varieties were stewarded in backyards, gardens, and small farms for years before seed accessions from each found their way through USDA vaults, Seed Savers Exchange, and the Heirloom Collard Project. This dozen is only a small fraction of the diversity of collards across North Carolina and across the U.S. South more broadly. This grow out was part of a larger experiment to better understand the connections between people, plants, and place, honoring the stories of the foods that make regions and inviting people to cultivate new stories of their own.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e1.75\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e gram packet contains a minimum of 250 seeds.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eSMALL FARM GROWN by Utopian Seed Project and Chris Kevee \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"- Collards -","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46750159634601,"sku":"031-009-1-C","price":4.75,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2550\/8730\/files\/image_df051b16-8f89-47fe-8f85-87cf219259a5.png?v=1772482136"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2550\/8730\/collections\/Collards.jpg?v=1563411215","url":"https:\/\/sowtrueseed.mom\/collections\/collards.oembed","provider":"Sow True Seed","version":"1.0","type":"link"}