COLLARDS, is the inaugural issue of The Utopian Seed Project’s series of zine publications. Edited by the extremely talented and award winning writer and editor, Dr. Cynthia Greenlee. Dr Greenlee first thought, “Will we have enough articles about collard greens to justify a whole issue? . . . I somehow couldn’t imagine that too many people would come out of the proverbial woodwork to write about this sturdy plant”. But she soon realized that there is a lot to say about collards. COLLARDS is a beautiful collection of collard focused art, essays, poetry and recipes. The cover is by Chicago’s Alexandra Antoine. Chris Smith, author of The Whole Okra, gives a short history of the Heirloom Collard Project. Mark Farnham’s short glossary delineates the type of collards (illustrated by Kristen Eggen, and co-editor Melissa DeSa provides an illustrated tour of the collard growing cycle. African-American writer, culinary historian, and educator Michael Twitty’s penned a loving ode to the collard. Historian David Shields of the University of South Carolina uses seed catalogs to briefly explore how collards became Southern. Ed Davis of Emory & Henry College recounts the months of road-tripping he spent collecting heirlooms for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and how he met seed saver Levi Grissett in the process. Farmer Kamal Bell of central North Carolina shares concrete reasons why he will always plant collards and how he does it. West Virginia-based engineer and seed company owner Mehmet Öztan takes us to his native Turkey where collards are a favorite food. Other delights in COLLARDS include Chef Ashleigh Shanti’s six simple collard recipes. And Max Walker shares the story of how the purple tree collard became the official symbol of the city Richmond, California. There is more packed into this creatively designed publication. Order your copy while supplies last. 84 pages. Softcover. Color photographs and illustrations. GREENS GROWING GUIDE
