Yellow Cabbage Collards

Bum Dennis Cabbage Collard

Also known as the Carolina Cabbage Collard, Yellow Cabbage Collards differ from conventional collard greens by the thinness of their leaves, which have finer veining and more of a yellow tone to their still-present shade of green. Yellow Cabbage Collards have a silky, tender texture, more akin to spinach than bitter greens. The flavor, which reaches its peak in late summer, is milder and less bitter than regular collard greens, which ripen later in the season.  Nowadays, it is difficult to find the yellow cabbage collards outside of Ayden, North Carolina, the self-proclaimed “Collard Capital of the World.”

We also take pride is our local resident Latham “Bum” Dennis of Ayden, North Carolina who is known for growing his own variation of collard. Mr. Dennis believes this variety dates to before 1960. He grows a 5-acre plot of collards each year and uses only his own heirloom seeds. He raises them for his restaurant in Ayden. In 2004, Bum shared some seeds with Dr. Edward Davis, a professor of geography at Emory & Henry College, who was collecting heirloom collard strains for preservation on behalf of the USDA Accession. Seed Savers Exchange requested this variety in 2016 from the USDA Accession collection (PI 662822).