The delicious blue-green leaves of this collard are slow to bolt and full of antioxidants. An old Southern favorite they get even sweeter after a frost. The 10 to 18 leaves form on plants that can get up to three feet tall. They are ready to eat in 80 days. Collard sometimes known as wild or non-heading cabbage probably originated in Asia Minor and the Mediterranean region. Europe eventually became familiar with this vegetable though historians disagree as to whether it was introduced there by the Romans or the Celts. Collard became a valuable part of the traditional cuisine of the American South through the slave trade when the slaves began preparing this inexpensive vegetable with scraps of meat for flavoring. This unique vegetable has become a unique symbol of Southern culture and tradition.