Many Southerners consider collard greens a delicacy.  My Daddy’s family ate them and he enjoys them.  My mother’s family did not, and Mom never fixed greens, except spinach, when I was growing up.  I can take them or leave them, but I can certainly grow them.

When to Plant

If you want to grow your own collard greens, you can start with seed in either the early spring or the fall.  Some people start the plants inside and then transplant them, but most people direct seed in the garden about six weeks before the last frost date.  They are planted at the same time as beets, turnips, radishes, and the like.

Fertilizing First

Before you plant the seed, fertilize the area with about 8 pints of a good fertilizer per 100-foot row.  If you live in my area, you put nitrogen down.  If you live somewhere that does not have a lot of phosphorus or potassium in the soil, you put down 10-10-10 fertilizer.  About 4 weeks after the seed comes up, spread one pint of nitrogen along the side of your row, and repeat that in about three weeks.

Watering

Water them in and water them frequently, as collards take a lot of water.  The soil should be moist but not squishy.

Planting Collard Greens

Seeds should be planted 1/2 to 3/4 inches deep.  Do not get them deeper than that or they will not survive.  You can plant collards close together and form a carpet of greens, then trim the leaves as you want them.  You can also space them 12-18 inches apart and pull the whole plant when you are ready for it.  Collards are cold hardy and if planted in the fall garden can last most of the winter.  In fact, in areas where it is not too cold, you can have them all winter and into the spring, long enough for the new crop to come in.

Nutritious

Collards are high in vitamins and can be substituted for spinach in the diet. 

Food Safety

Care should be given to keep animals out of the garden and make sure any manure used on the garden is completely composted.  Otherwise, you may get E. coli contamination and that can be deadly.

Want to learn to garden? My first attempt at gardening ended up in failure. The weeds took over and squeezed the vegetables out. I was very frustrated by this waste of good seed, time, and money. So I became a master gardener and spent a lot of time helping other people avoid or overcome problems in their garden. 

In order to help others garden successfully, I have written a book, Vegetable Gardening from the Ground Up, available in an ebook or a paperback from Amazon. It is also in Kindle Unlimited.