Here We Go Again

Last spring, about this time, A. came home with a pack of collard green seedlings for me. There were nine seedlings in the six-cell pack. I planted all of them.

We got quite a bit of rain early in the growing season, which made them grow very quickly.

Even though the grasshoppers got after them, they couldn't kill the collards. The plants were already pretty big, and the grasshoppers ate the bigger leaves towards the outside, leaving the new growth in the center that kept the plant going.

I cut greens for months, sharing them with anyone who wanted them. The cold that made the grasshoppers go away didn't phase the collard greens. They kept growing into the new year, even more luxuriantly without grasshoppers gnawing at them.

When we had our very cold spell, I harvested the rest of the collard leaves, but I left a few of the stalks in the garden. I wanted to see what would happen.

Well . . .

Can't keep a good plant down.

That's the one where I left the smallest leaves in the center. It's growing quite quickly from that center. The other stalks where I pulled the whole head off are actually sprouting new leaves along the stems. 

It appears that collards, like carrots, have a two-year life cycle, meaning that these plants should produce flowers and seeds this year. It remains to be seen if the leaves that are growing will be good to eat, or too bitter to bother with, but it's been fun to watch their resurgence.