Collards

http://www.bountifulgardens.org/Collards-Georgia/productinfo/VCO-3240/

What is a collard?

Brassica oleracea L. (Viridis Group)

SYNONYM(S):

Brassica oleracea L. var. viridis L.,

Brassica oleracea L. (Acephala Group),

Brassica oleracea L. convar. acephala (DC.) Alef.

AFRIKAANS:

Boerkool.

ENGLISH:

Kale, Fodder kale, Cow cabbage (UK),

Collards (USA), Tall kale, Tree kale, Tree cabbage.

Brassica oleracea L. (Viridis Group) 'Nero di Toscana'

SYNONYM(S):

Brassica oleracea L. (Viridis Group) 'Laciniato'

ENGLISH:

Palm cabbage, Italian kale.

Although the term ‘kale’ appears amongst the common names for this variety of the cabbage species it actually has some characteristics that distinguish it from kale.

Paul’s request for collard propagative material on the Permaculture Pioneers Facebook page got me curious because his description was a bit different to what I thought was a collard. Googling around I found that the words ‘collards’, ‘kale’ and ‘tree’ where used interchangeably in double barreled common names of various varieties of leaf cabbages.

I thought I had solved the riddle when I found two different scientific names for this range of species; but found I had stuck my foot in it when another page said that these scientific names were synonymous, the one being a more recently adopted name than the other.

Another surprise turned up. I had been told that the ancestor of the domesticated cabbage family was endemic to senescent patches of woodland; and in my experience cauliflowers have produced way out of season in January in soil with high lignin content in dappled shade. However, the ancestor of the common ‘cabbage family’, Brassica oleraceae himself, also known as wild cabbage, is endemic to the maritime belts of the Mediterranean and Europe; like the ancestor of the chards and beets in the Amaranthaceae family in the sub-family Betoideae.

So what is the point of this exploration?

Collards are important Vitamin C continuity gap fillers, protecting human populations from scurvy. They differ from kale which is a calcium assimilator which provides an organic form of calcium which protects women from osteoporosis, especially when the weather is not conducive for lettuce production. Both collards and kale are loose-leaf cabbages like their ancestor Brassica oleraceae himself, which unlike some of his mesophyllic descendants which require the mesic conditions of senescent woodland patches, can survive more variable environmental conditions. The temperature and aridity tolerance range of the leaf cabbages suggest that they are more direct descendants of Brassica oleraceae himself.

The reason for this discussion is to get a sense of where these important nutrition continuity components fit into the successionary evolution and bio-diversity stability of self regulating food forest ecosystems. This is important for ecosystem design and layout as well as one’s ongoing anthropogenic relationship with a food forest ecosystem. It is also to connect the ecological functions of useful species to the classical plant classification system in order to develop a functional classification system that we can use for the design of, and ongoing anthropogenic relationship with, a food forest ecosystem.

Taxonomy:

The cultivars of B. oleracea are grouped by developmental form into seven major cultivar groups, of which the Acephala ("non-heading") group remains most like the natural Wild Cabbage in appearance:

· Brassica oleracea Acephala Group – kale and collard greens

· Brassica oleracea Alboglabra Group – Chinese broccoli

· Brassica oleracea Botrytis Group – cauliflower, Romanesco broccoli and broccoflower

· Brassica oleracea Capitata Group – cabbage

· Brassica oleracea Gemmifera Group – brussels sprouts

· Brassica oleracea Gongylodes Group – kohlrabi

· Brassica oleracea Italica Group – broccoli

This treatment of the nomenclature of the taxonomy of the species Brassica oleracea,

Sorting Brassica oleracea names

from which I isolated the leaf cabbages (the Acephala Group, as opposed to heading cabbages, Brussel sprouts and edible flowers like broccoli and cauliflower) shows that with 2 exceptions the word kale appears amongst the common names of all the leaf cabbages; and of these the word collards appears amongst the common names of 1 of them and is a specifically American term for this particular variety of leaf cabbage, i.e. Brassica oleracea L. var. viridis L., known in South Africa as “Boerekool”, the only Afrikaans common name appearing on this site,which suggests its importance in traditional South African mixed farming systems. Collards, then, may be considered as a particular variety of kale.

However, according to the Wikipedia “ In Kenya it is more commonly known by its Swahili name, sukuma wiki, and is often confused with kales. They are classified in the same cultivar group as kale and spring greens, to which they are genetically similar”; which implies that collards have some characteristics that not only distinguish them from the rest of the kales but make them a different group of leaf cabbages to the kales.

Nutritionally the key difference is that kale has a significantly higher concentration of organic calcium than collards, while collards have more soluble fiber. Biochemically collards are closer to heading cabbages than kale and could be described as a non-heading cabbage. They have a strong cabbage flavor, tasting more like cabbage than kale does. Collards are also specifically hot climate loose leafed cabbages, originating in the eastern Mediterranean or Asia Minor and in the USA are usually grown in the south eastern states.

It is an extremely hardy variety of the ‘cabbage family’ (which is actually a species), tolerating temperatures down to about -15°c[200]. It also tolerates high summer temperatures and is more drought resistant than most other members of the cabbage species; a pioneer Brassica and a very reliable nutrition security plant to fall back on when extreme micro-climate conditions prevail and a good micro-climate restorer and maintainer that will improve the chances of the survival of other crops when extreme macro-climatic conditions prevail. They yield 365 days / year although quality improves during the cool season.

Variation within the Brassica oleracea viridis variety includes a range of cultivars.

Implications for Ecosystem Management:

Open pollinated members of the Brassica oleracea species can be expected to cross pollinate where grown in proximity to one another. The progeny would include strains of hardier leaf cabbages, less hardy heading cabbages and mesophyllic edible flower cabbages like cauliflower.

Where a food forest micro-environment is incubated through a successionary process starting with exposed conditions on a juvenile soil or a soil in a poor condition, initially more of the leaf cabbage characteristics can be expected to survive natural competition. Here leaf cabbage strains could be expected to germinate first and suppress the germination of less hardy strains.

Some of the seed of the less hardy strains can thus be expected to survive through attenuation of their germination. As the micro-environment and soil condition matures the completive advantage of the less hardy strains would improve. Through this effect there will always be strains of some sort of the cabbage species to maintain a continuity of Vitamin C and organic calcium in your diet.

The historical genus of Crucifera, meaning four-petalled flower, and now known as Brassica may be the only unifying feature beyond taste. This means that taste and thus chemistry and essence are dominant distinguishing characteristics of all the brassicas. The ecological function of this is the excretion of selective fungicides into the soil which kill harmful fungi and other harmful micro-organisms and allow the beneficial ones to survive.

In the world’s biggest anthropogenic rain forest (not exactly ‘man-made’ because the effect was inadvertent rather than planned – it was nature’s response to man) mesic micro-environmental conditions can be rapidly created by simply not disturbing or removing the outputs of domestic life and optimized with a few thoughtful tweaks.

Das electron machin ish night fur mitten graben dumb kopfen. Putting das hands in das pockets and watchin das blinkin lights.

Nutritional Value of Collards:

Widely considered to be a healthy food, collards are good sources of vitamin C and soluble fiber, and contain multiple nutrients with potent anticancer properties, such asdiindolylmethane^[4] and sulforaphane.^[5][6][7] Roughly a quarter pound (approx. 100 g) of cooked collards contains 46 Calories.

Collard greens are also a high source of vitamin K (the clotting vitamin) and should be eaten in moderation by individuals taking blood thinners.

Researchers at the University of California at Berkeley have recently discovered that 3,3'-diindolylmethane in Brassica vegetables such as collard greens is a potent modulator of the innate immune response system with potent antiviral, antibacterial and anticancer activity.^[8]

Nutritional Value of Kale