Collards (Brassica oleracea)
OUR WORK
The Utopian Seed Project is a collaborating partner with The Heirloom Collard Project. This project has been an excellent way to work on a national platform to further our work of exploring and celebrating diversity in tradional southern crops. In 2020 we partnered with The Culinary Breeding Network for a week of virtual presentations (See the Collard Week videos below.
Collard Week Videos in partnership with the Culinary Breeding Network
We have been working closely with a number of great organizations to grow, steward and promote heirloom collards via The @heirloomcollards Project. This December, in collaboration with the @culinarybreedingnetwork, we are excited to invite you to Collard Week!
21 varieties of collards for the @heirloomcollards project. Photographed by @yondering_ during a @sowtrueseed workday! Each bunch was delivered to @foodordeath_ in preparation for a film shoot later today.
Sharing some candid shots of Chef Ashleigh Shanti as we filmed a 4-way Collard Salad demonstration for Collard Week. I was lucky enough to take home the 'demonstration' and it was delicious. Very excited to share the video during #collardweek, after which there will be a live Q&A with Ashleigh. Register for free via @heirloomcollards.
Today at 1PM EST board member Chef Ashleigh Shanti (@foodordeath_) will be presenting a 3-way collard salad demo with greens from the #collards2020trials. Straight after Chris Smith (@blueandyellowmakes) and Ashleigh will go into a live collard tasting and culinary evaluation and there will be a Q&A open to everyone! All available to watch for free via @culinarybreedingnetwork YouTube Live. It's going to be so much fun.
It's been a while since I checked on the collards and I was a little nervous given lows of 8F and pretty consistent freezing temps. There was definitely some damage, but a majority of the collards were ALIVE 💚
Just casually seeding 21 varieties of collards for a collaborative and far reaching trial (the trial is 20 varieties, but I snuck in another one that Yanna Fishman has been working with!!). Proud to be working with @seed_savers_exchange @workingfoodgnv @southernexposureseed @melbelle206 @culinarybreedingnetwork and a lot of citizen scientists across the USA.
As we continue our work with the @heirloomcollards project and our #collards2020 trials, we thought we'd jump into testing out some Tree Collards from @projecttreecollard
Here's a selection of the collards we're growing as part of the #heirloomcollardproject and their #collards2020 variety trial of 20 different #heirloomcollards
It's looking like nearly 100% germination after just a few days. @seed_savers_exchange did a great job expanding seed if these rare varieties, and now they've been shared across the country. Really looking forward to seeing how these 20 collard varieties grow.
Join us for four days of collards from December 14-17th. Michael Twitty (@thecookinggene), Ira Wallace (@ira.wallace), Jon Jackson (@comfortfarms), Amirah Mitchell (@edenanew) and Ashleigh Shanti (@foodordeath_) will lead online presentations and live Q&As throughout a week of events celebrating collards!
Immerse yourself in food history, seed stewardship, gardening, farming, cooking and more, and join the conversation as part of the Heirloom Collard Project!
Learn more and register for free via @heirloomcollards
#collards #collardgreens #collardtrials #collardtrial2020 #collardsweek #collards2020 #southernfood #growcollards #eatcollards #learncollards #lovecollards
#collards #collards2020 #collardtrials #experimentalfarm #heirloomcollardproject #heirloomcollards #growcollards #southerncrops
#collards2020 #collards #eatyourgreens #eatcollards #heirloomcollardproject #heirloomcollards #collardsalad #collardtrials #collardtrial2020
Huge thanks to the @heirloomcollards project partners that helped make this entire week of collards possible: @workingfoodgnv @seed_savers_exchange @southernexposureseed and our fantastic host @culinarybreedingnetwork
Collards grown at our #experimentalfarm at @frannysfarm
#collards #collarsgreens #eatcollards #growcollards #lovecollards
#collards #collardtrial #tuspcollards #heirloomcollardsproject #heirloomcollards #wintergreens
Also, big thanks to @dirtcraftorganics. They donated a couple of totes of seed starting soil in spring and I have enough for fall planting. Great to know there collards are getting a great start in a locally made soil mix!
#collards #collardtrials #heirloomcollards #collards2020
While tree collards are often rooted from cuttings, we like starting from seeds because we'll get some variation in the genetics and will be able to select the plants that do best in our region. Which is what we're all about - better food, regionally grown.
We're growing 'Green' 'Purple' and 'Merritt'.
I've got about 30 seeds left of 'Merritt' and am going to send them to a randomly selected Patreon supporter on Monday. So if you've been thinking of supporting then do it now!! Link in our profile.
I'd also like to shout out to @projecttreecollard for quickly resending extra seeds when some arrived crushed by the mail. Great customer service for a small company.
#treecollards #perennialcollards #heirloomcollardproject
There is already some beautiful diversity showing up, and it looks like we're on track for an early September transplant (despite some unexpected storms, uninvited cabbage loopers, and a stinkbug or two).
Excited to see these greens grow up.
#collards #collardgreens #croptrials #cropdiversity #heirlooms
@heirloomcollards
I also want to start looking for Asheville-based chefs who may want to collaborate on the food side of these trials.
#collards #collards2020 #heirloomcollardproject
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