If you live near Gardena, California, or are willing to make the drive, you may want to stop by Centrose Nursery. It's just off the 110 freeway on 525 E. Rosecrans.
They are THE PLACE to go for tree collards. Well worth the drive.
Tree Collards are a non-heading member of the cabbage family, and were introduced to California in the latter-half of the 18th century. They are nutritious and contain more calcium than milk! A cup of cooked collards contains 226 mg of Calcium. They are high in soluble fiber, and contain multiple nutrients with potent anti-cancer properties.
They taste great raw (my DD started eating them on the car ride back home) and can be eaten raw or cooked or used as a substitute for any recipe calling for kale, collards or cabbage; shredded as a substitute for lettuce; wrapped (raw or slightly steamed) as a substitute for a tortilla.
They propagate by cuttings, and if cuttings are set in the early spring, should grow about 3-4 feet before the hottest part of summer (July/August) when all your crop needs to be pruned back in order to reset itself for the fall. It is best as a fall/spring/very early summer crop. The goal is to produce fewer medium to large leaves rather than a plethora of bitty leaves (unless you're growing for cuttings!)
A YouTube video showing where to cut can be found here: http://youtu.be/WPLus7YVM4k
These are the tree collards I bought yesterday at Centrose Nursery. The 9 foot high tall one is a Green Tree Collard, and the sapling is a Purple Tree Collard. Green tree collards taste more like mild cabbage, whereas purple has a strong taste (like the difference in taste between lacinto kale and curly kale.)
Green tree collard, will likely stay in this pot.
Purple tree collard, will eventually need to be repotted.
I could not resist also purchasing 18 celery (yes, I have seeds in 43 trays) and 6 white onions...but getting such a huge jump start on celery will be wonderful.
FYI, Centrose is closing their doors by the end of July,
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