So sad to see food waste :(

Branching Out

Deeply Rooted
Joined
Dec 2, 2022
Messages
1,371
Reaction score
4,388
Points
175
Location
Southwestern B.C.
I am interested in this. Why specifically collards? What happened here? I'm actually expanding my garden in part because I worry something similar is about to happen. Perhaps a few collards need tucked in despite their flavor and texture.
Given that all the cool people are growing them, how about if I send you a few seeds once they arrive, and we can form a Collard Coalition?
 

Branching Out

Deeply Rooted
Joined
Dec 2, 2022
Messages
1,371
Reaction score
4,388
Points
175
Location
Southwestern B.C.
You know the old saying, misery loves company! Lol. Welcome to the Cool Collard Coalition. We will start a new thread to chart out progress once the seeds hit the dirt. And I think we may have to lobby for a collard emoji. Shockingly, there isn't one!
 

digitS'

Garden Master
Joined
Dec 13, 2007
Messages
25,720
Reaction score
28,731
Points
457
Location
border, ID/WA(!)
Jaime at Quail Seeds says that her mom survived the Great Depression because of collards. That is quite a statement.
Used to know a girl lived down there and she'd go out in the evenings and
Pick her a mess of it
Carry it home and cook it for supper
Because that's about all they had to eat
But they did all right

Down in Louisiana, where the alligators grow so mean
Lived a girl, that I swear to the world
Made the alligators look tame
Polk salad Annie, gators got your granny
Everybody said it was a shame
Because her momma was a workin' on the chain gang

A mean vicious woman ...

313px-The_Road_to_Dividends_%28Dorgan%29.jpg
 

digitS'

Garden Master
Joined
Dec 13, 2007
Messages
25,720
Reaction score
28,731
Points
457
Location
border, ID/WA(!)
Yes, I know ..

. Polk Salad or Poke Salad is something else.

But, Elvis and digitS' were inspired.
 

Zeedman

Garden Master
Joined
Dec 10, 2016
Messages
3,890
Reaction score
11,931
Points
307
Location
East-central Wisconsin
My DW grew up in a country where daily meals were not a given, and went through some lean times - so food waste was intolerable to her. When she told the kids at the table "there are starving people in the world", she wasn't just speaking rhetorically. She was generous with family & friends, and always cooked for an army... but anything left over would be given away, eaten the next day, or frozen for later. I just came across some of her frozen meatloaf while cleaning & reorganizing the freezers, sliced & wrapped in foil individually, and double bagged. The last food I'll ever taste that was cooked by her hand, so I'm eating it a little at a time.

What food waste there was usually came from me; garden produce that was not processed or given away in a timely manner. Such things, along with any scraps, peels or trimmings, were usually returned to the garden they came from & turned under. Juicy spoiled veggies though (or supermarket scraps) DW would pour over tree stumps to hasten their decomposition. We always had a stump or two, since we took down several trees as the gardens at home expanded.
 

Zeedman

Garden Master
Joined
Dec 10, 2016
Messages
3,890
Reaction score
11,931
Points
307
Location
East-central Wisconsin
Given that all the cool people are growing them, how about if I send you a few seeds once they arrive, and we can form a Collard Coalition?

That sounds like fun! We can swap growth photos and dare each other to eat them. ;)
Have a collard taste-off challenge. Do it via Zoom or Meet, watch everyone eat their first bite, and let hilarity ensue. :lol:

Personally, I'm more than happy with chard as a 'meaty' green.
 

AMKuska

Garden Master
Joined
Jan 25, 2014
Messages
2,216
Reaction score
5,367
Points
317
Location
Washington
Have a collard taste-off challenge. Do it via Zoom or Meet, watch everyone eat their first bite, and let hilarity ensue. :lol:

Personally, I'm more than happy with chard as a 'meaty' green.
I don't know if I'm willing to go that far...my face when I tried a bite of my neighbor's collards was probably as hysterical as the time she handed me a raw piece of rhubarb to try.
 

digitS'

Garden Master
Joined
Dec 13, 2007
Messages
25,720
Reaction score
28,731
Points
457
Location
border, ID/WA(!)
It hadn't occurred to me that there are unique varieties of collards. I have only grown Georgia Southern.

Perhaps greater knowledge and experience would gain an appreciation for them during the growing season and I wouldn't need to wait for Autumn harvest.

Don't know although it reminds me of finally learning the name of the greens that I liked in my chop suey at Chinese restaurants. Bok choy ... I went off to a supermarket in an urban area. Huge head of inedible leaves and stems. I went to an Asian market - they only had Baby Bok Choy. I became a fan.

Variety is the spice of life.
 

seedcorn

Garden Master
Joined
Jun 21, 2008
Messages
9,627
Reaction score
9,882
Points
397
Location
NE IN
I see things a little different.
Garden waste-not getting it picked in time is the start of the food for the next crop. Not really lost.
Stores lose some-don’t know how you get away from that as they can build in a “loss” factor when pricing it out. Selling it at discounted rates messes with formula and you sell less at fair margins. Grocery stores operate on very low margins-try to survive by turning their money many times per day.
Individual waste-my wife and her family are champions here-is unacceptable to me. I know too many husbands that complain about food gets pushed to back of refrigerator till the molds come out or get to the bottom of a freezer to stay. Even though everything is stocked at home, just can’t pass on “bargains” at store. Worse with empty nesters-use to feeding 3+ and now 2 that don’t eat as much as they did.
 

Latest posts

Top