'Minnie Mizelle' Collards

Brassica oleracea

Origin: Williamston, North Carolina

Improvement status: Cultivar

Seeds per packet: ~80

Germination tested 11/2024: 95%

Life cycle: Annual

This lovely heirloom cabbage collard first came to our attention thanks to the work of the Heirloom Collard Project. Here's what they say about it on their website:

"An heirloom collard from Henry Mizelle of Williamston, North Carolina. Henry’s wife, Minnie Mizelle, saved seed of this variety for more than 60 years before she passed on in 2006 at the age of 90. Minnie shared the collard seeds with a number of local gardeners. She originally received this variety in the 1940s from her aunt, Martha Jones. In 2006, Henry gave seeds (of this variety and several others) to Dr. John Morgan, a cultural geographer and professor of geography at Emory & Henry College, who was collecting heirloom collard strains for preservation on behalf of the USDA."

Minnie Mizelle's collards are mostly yellow-green with large wavy leaves composed of multiple lops. The plants stay low to the ground and tend to form well-developed heads. The flavor is described as not particularly sweet, but with an earthy, mustard-like flavor. It's fairly uniform, but not entirely so, indicating some genetic diversity which should contribute to the variety's resilience.