Hi, This is my first year growing collards and I wonder how to pick them. Can you pick leaves as needed and leave the plant to continue producing? Here in Tampa it's time to pick!

Diana

-- Diana (dvance4@juno.com), October 13, 2001

Answers

Yes, pick from the bottom, I have seen collards 7 feet tall and heard of twice that. They look wierd, like little space ships on bamboo poles. If you cut the top, take all the plant and replant; they taste better after a bit of a frost, sprinkle a bit of brown sugar in with them when cooking.

-- mitch hearn (moopups@citlink.net), October 13, 2001.

I try to pick as little stem as possible. And then, yes, you can pick and repick until frost. I wash in the washing machine and parboil and freeze. You can check out my post about that below.

-- Ann Markson (tngreenacres@hotmail.com), October 13, 2001.

I alwase plant our collards thick, and thin them out as needed For eating. Once the plants are spaced out good I start picking the leavs off the bottom

-- marmerduke (marmerduke@aol.com), October 15, 2001.