When your collard leaves are as big as a dinner plate, it’s time to get picking. In Florida, these greens are tough and resilient, but there is a trick to harvesting them so the plant keeps producing all season long.

​I’ve had good luck with the “cut and come again” method. Instead of taking the whole plant, I start at the bottom and snap off the largest, outermost leaves. You want to leave the small, tender leaves at the very top (the crown) so the plant can keep growing tall. If you harvest this way, your collards will eventually look like little palm trees, and you’ll have a steady supply of greens for months.

​Quick Harvest Tips

​Morning is best: Pick them early before the Florida sun wilts them. They’ll stay much crisper in the kitchen.

​Snap or snip: You can snap the stems downward with your hand, but using clean garden shears prevents you from accidentally tugging the whole plant out of the soil.
​The “Sweet” Factor: If we’ve had a light frost recently, those big leaves are going to taste much sweeter because the cold converts the plant’s starches into sugars.

​Find My Favorite Seeds
​If you’re looking to grow the same varieties I use in my garden, you can find my recommended seeds and the tools I use every day right here:
​Visit the RootedInJs Amazon Shop https://www.amazon.com/shop/rootedinjs

43 Comments

  1. I live in Mississippi. My neighbor grows collards this big. He gave me a couple of bunches, and I gave them to a relative. I didn’t feel like cleaning them. She said that she got 3 meals out of those two bunches of greens.

  2. Hey put the pineapple like you said they are in water right know cant get to the yard i had lknee surgery so as soon as I can get to the yard they are going thank you for tips okay❤❤❤❤😂🎉🎉😢😮😅

  3. Collards will grow several years for us but hey definitely slow down in the summer. I never let my leaves get that big i take em young and tender before the bugs get to them.

  4. Oh I'm so jealous!!! But inspired I will def try to plant collards next year
    I believe it's too late now

  5. My collards looked like that before I picked them again last week. I tried morris heading this year and they are my favorite collard for looks now. Just beautiful

Pin