April 1st is upon us and here in northern California, Rick and I have been preparing our backyard raised beds for planting. This year, we are planting many of our garden staples such as heirloom tomatoes, squash, bell peppers, basil, and some plants we have not grown before, such as mizuna and stinging nettle. One plant that grows year round in our garden is tree collard greens. We have several tree collard plants that have been in our garden since we moved into our house a few years ago, and they are still going strong and producing beautiful large deep green leaves.
What we love about our tree collards is that they are relatively low maintenance and are a reliable source of greens for us. Of course, we rotate our greens for variety so we are planting a variety of other greens in our garden this year, which we will cover in another blog post or video. We enjoy greens from our tree collard plants mostly in smoothies, but occasionally may put them in juice or a salad. These collard greens are tender and easily digestible for us in comparison to collard greens we find in the store that have a tougher consistency. We have observed over the years, that the greens that we grow in our garden tend to be softer and more tender than commercially available greens. Although this may not be true across the board, this is just an observation from our own personal experience.
Here is a sampling of the nutrients found in regular collard greens:
| 3 cups chopped collard greens (108 g) | Adult Daily Values | |
| Calories | 32.4 | |
| Calcium | 156.60 | 1000 – 1200 mg |
| Potassium | 182.52 | 4700 mg |
| Folate | 179.28 | 400 mcg |
| Beta carotene | 4149.36 mcg |
How do these numbers compare to the nutrients found in actual tree collard greens? We have yet to know, given that I have not yet been able to find neutral information on the nutrients measured in actual tree collard leaves. I would not be surprised if they are similar. This is the beauty of science and research, there is much that is known and much that has yet to be known. Happy spring!
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