In my area, I usually charge the same as kale. About $3 for a large bunch. I however found that people were interested but not for the price. I then lowered the amount and the price to $2 and it sold great. It was the same price per weight just in a smaller quantity.

-Alexander

I charge $5 pound for collard/$3 1/2 pound but I think I will lower that to $4 a pound/$2.50 1/2 pound. Collards are a lot heavier than kale and just as prolific so I charge less for them than kale.

I find them to be a hard sell because too few people around here know how to cook them, they have to be sautéed at least 45 minutes before they are edible and I can see why people boil them with a ham hock for hours and hours, they really need it. Most of my clients are into light steaming or eating things raw, something for which collards are not well suited.

Thanks for the information. I was thinking about going $3.00 for half pound bags, or $6 a pound. THat is what I get for Kale. But they do weigh up fast, so maybe $2.50 for half pound bags or $5.00 a pound.

This is the first year for them for me. I was munching on a few leaves while picking and they were pretty good, similar to kale. Very thick and hardy.

Jay

This year I grew Biera Kale (Johnny's seeds) in the same row as collards and the plant difference is hardly noticable; customers and other vendors insisted that I was selling all collard greens. I priced both the same @ $1.50 for a bunch of 4-5 leaves. Even at that price the sales were marginal; only soldout once when a girl was buying for a play costume. I thought that the variety had little bearing on acceptance, until now. Most people are looking for Tuscana or Russian kale. If you deviate from the norm you need to sell cheaper and even provide recipes or you'll face an "Adjustment" period.

Often customers are reluctant to try something new but after a few weeks, usually after you run out of that crop, everyone is asking for it. I know that has happened for me with at least 3 squash varieties this year.

The collard greens I am growing this year is Flash. They aren't huge, about the size of an adult mans hand.

Jay

I also tried Flash this season and the leaves are huge, or they were before this last freeze. They have some growing back to do.

I sell a bunch of 6 leaves for $2.50 which is the same price for Kale (which has 8-10 leaves in a bunch). I would guess it's about 1/2 lb. or maybe a little more.

-Mark

I did some research on collards and it seems they and kale are very very close cousins, more like siblings as they come from the same wild plant, a wild kale that grew along the southern Mediterranean shores. Both were domesticated at least 6,000 BP, probably by the Egyptians. By the Roman era these greens were being grown and eaten throughout southern Europe/Northern half of Africa

What is mostly grown today are the VATES (Virginia Truck Experiment Station) varieties. VATES was the main breeder of kale and collards from 1902 through the 1960's.

I had a big batch of collards for dinner last night-Yummy!

Thanks for the info about collards and kale. We had our market yesterday and the Collards were the most popular item, by number of sales. I asked $2.50 and no one said anything about the price.

Jay