Wild Cabbages?

Hello Gardeners, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. Collards and kale are considered wild type members of the cabbage family. These species of the Brassica genus originated in the Mediterranean area, where they were eaten by the Romans and Greeks two thousand years ago. As the Roman Empire expanded, they were introduced into southwest Europe and even England. Cato the Elder, a Roman senator and historian living roughly 200 years before the Christian era, also had an interest in agriculture. He believed that that the wild brassicas growing in the then Roman state were very important in a healthy diet, either when cooked in oil or eaten raw with vinegar. Before you get too admiring of Mr. Cato, you should know his ideas on healthy life-style choices included bathing in urine; I think I’ll just agree with his food choices and forget about his other suggestions.