Nancy Malone Wheat Purple Collard

Uniform variety. Ovate leaves are blue-green, occasionally with a vibrant purple cast, and entire to slightly toothed margins. Leaves have moderate blistering and purple petioles and midveins. Plants have purple stems and measure 16.5-22 inches tall and 35-43 inches wide. Plants do not form heads. Plants damaged when temperatures reached 20 F. Held up well to cabbage moths relative to other varieties grown on Heritage Farm in 2023. Tender and sweet with some bitterness. Stewarded by MacArthur (“Mac”) Walters of Coker, Alabama. This variety is an heirloom from his wife, Annie’s, family. It was grown and saved for generations and handed down to Annie by her mother, Nancy Malone Wheat (b. 1912, d. 2000). Mac doesn't start picking collard leaves until after two or three frosts because he says that's when they taste the best. Once, Mac grew rutabagas and cut the greens from them and cooked them like he does his collards. Then he fed them to his friends, who said, “Mac, these are some excellent collards!” He said, “Those aren’t collards! They’re rutabagas! You thought I’d give you my good greens?!!” So now he sometimes grows rutabagas and eats the roots and the greens. In 2006, Mac gave seeds to Dr. Edward Davis, a professor of geography at Emory & Henry College, who was collecting heirloom collard strains for preservation on behalf of the USDA. Seed Savers Exchange requested this variety in 2016 from the USDA collection (G 33028). SSE Accession # 133024