Canning Collards

South Carolina is blessed with year-round fresh green vegetables, and winter is for collard greens. They grow best in cool weather, and a brisk cold freeze makes them sweet. Collard greens are rich in vitamins and minerals, especially calcium. Just last week, I was fortunate to find a large bag with three healthy just-picked heads for just $3.00 at the farmer’s market and started planning my first-ever attempt at canning greens.

The first place I look for canning recipes is the National Center for Home Food Preservation. They are known to be safe and tested recipes that cover all the basic fruits, meats, and vegetables. Instructions for collard greens are found on the page for Spinach and Other Greens.

As I started planning the canning project, I looked at the yield. Eighteen pounds makes 9 pints of greens. I only had 6.8 pounds. Some quick math showed that I might get only three pints. I know greens cook down a lot, but comparing the pile of greens to the jars, it seemed unlikely.

I discarded the outer leaves, washed the greens three times, and cut away the stems. After cutting away the heavy stems and discarding the tough outer leaves, I only had 3.2 pounds. The mystery deepened. How many jars of collards would I have at the end of the day? A pint-and-a-half? I kept moving forward.

Since I needed to fill the entire canner with jars to keep the jars of collards stable and upright, I got eight jars out, even if I did not fill them all with greens. I used new inner lids and checked the instructions on the box for preparing them—this box said to just wash, not simmer at 185 °F, like the ones I used just last month. With the eight jars in the pressure cooker simmering in hot water on the stovetop, I was ready to start cutting