Q & A with Ira Wallace, collard connoisseur
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Ira Wallace, worker/owner, Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, and longtime member, Seed Savers Exchange
“My grandmother grew collards in her garden like many other gardeners grow green beans—they were just a given,“ says Ira Wallace, longtime member of Seed Savers Exchange. “And when I get excited about gardening, oftentimes it is because gardening, and especially growing collards, reminds me of her.”
Ira lives in Mineral, Virginia, where she works with the cooperatively managed Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, proprietor of more than 700 varieties of open-pollinated heirloom and organic seeds selected for flavor and regional adaptability. She also serves on the boards of the Organic Seed Alliance and the Virginia Association for Biological Farming and is a member of Acorn Community, which farms more than 60 acres of certified organic land in Virginia.
An organizer of the Heritage Harvest Festival at Monticello, Ira writes about heirloom vegetables and seed saving for magazines and blogs and is the author of the Timber Press Guide to Vegetable Gardening in the Southeast. She and the Southern Exposure Seed Exchange are currently collaborating with Seed Savers Exchange and several other organizations on the Heirloom Collard Project.
What inspired you to help start the Heirloom Collar Project?
A few years ago, I read the book Collards: A Southern Tradition from Seed to Table, by Edward Davis and John Morgan, and that got me even more excited about collards. Here is this everyday vegetable that I grew up with, and even though we grew other things too, collards were always a backbone of the garden. To give them a little respect feels like giving my grandmother a little respect.
What is your favorite collard variety to grow and why?
I like collards like ‘Ole Timey Blue’ because you can use them in salads when they are young. When I went to Jamaica to help with an ecosystem project, I met people there growing them in succession so that they always have young, tender plants to use as salad greens during the hot months when it is hard to grow greens there. You can also grow them to a regular size in the fall, but how nice they taste when they are young is what makes them special.
Can you share one fun fact about collards—something most people likely would not know?
“Although collards originated in Europe, they’ve become known as a specialty of the southern United States, where the cooking influences and preferences of enslaved or indigenous communities made these leafy greens a regional specialty. But collards don’t just grow in the southern United States; they grow as well or better than cabbage, kale, spinach, and turnip greens in most climates.”
What are your top five tips for growing healthy, happy collards?
Use moist, fertile soil with good organic matter if you want to have young, tender leaves and keep your plants growing well (especially in warmer weather). I am a big believer that organic matter will solve almost all gardening ills.
Make sure the soil’s pH is slightly acidic. The soil pH in the Southeast, where collards were developed in the United States, is naturally 5.8 to 6.5, or a bit on the acidic side.
Plant collards in full sun. You can grow collards in partial shade, but they will not grow as fast and produce new leaves for harvesting as often.
Pay attention to spacing and be sure to sow seeds in rows at least three feet apart. If you want to let them get big as you head into winter, you need to leave them enough space for them to grow. I like eating young, tender greens, but I can also make collard kraut if I let the greens get big.
Always keep timing in mind. In most places that have a mild climate, you can plant collards twice, in early spring and again in late summer for fall or winter harvest. (In Iowa, where Seed Savers Exchange is, you can probably take your spring collards and carry them through to the fall.) Either direct seed them two weeks before the last frost or, if transplanting, start your seeds indoors four to six weeks before the last frost.
COLLARD RECIPES
“This recipe for Brazilian garlic collards is for the more health-conscious cook,” says Ira. “But Southern-style is the classic way to prepare collard greens.”
Brazilian Garlic Collards
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
1 ¼ pound collard greens, stems and center ribs discarded and leaves halved lengthwise
3 to 6 garlic cloves (peeled and finely minced)
¾ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
¼ teaspoon ground pepper
DIRECTIONS
Stack half the collard leaves, roll them into a cigar shape, and cut them crosswise into very thin strips (1/16 inch wide). Repeat with the remainder of collard leaves.
Mix minced garlic with ¾ teaspoon salt. Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat until it shimmers, then cook garlic, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add collards with ¼ teaspoon pepper and cook, tossing, until just tender and bright green, 3 to 4 minutes.
Quick Southern-Style Collards
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
8 ounces bacon, chopped
1 sweet onion, diced
1 to 2 bunches of collard greens, washed, stems removed, and chopped
½ cup chicken broth or ¼ cup vinegar
Salt
Black pepper, freshly ground
(optional: 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes)
DIRECTIONS
Place the bacon in a cold 12-inch skillet. Heat the pan over medium heat and cook the bacon until it is crispy and the fat is rendered. Once the bacon is crispy, set it aside on a paper-towel-lined plate.
Add the onion to the leftover bacon fat and cook it until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the chopped collards to the pan along with the broth or vinegar, red pepper flakes (optional), and some salt and pepper and cook until the collards are tender but still bright green, 4 to 5 minutes. Adjust the seasoning if necessary. Toss with the reserved crispy bacon and serve.
