Questions about Swiss Chard....

modern_pioneer

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So I got some growing in my cold frame cold frame and I was wondering if I should thin them out? As well, what is your fav way to eat these?

I don't think I have ever eaten it, so I made the choice to try and grow some. We like most greens around these parts so I am think they will be eaten. I have chickens if we don't like them. :)
 

vfem

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Totally growing these for the first time this year too. It seems that several shoots have come up from 1 seed.... so I haven't thinned mine. I have however transplanted them outside, and they seem to be growing really really slowly.

Can't wait to eat mine!!! :D
 

Greenthumb18

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Umm swiss chard, i love eating them sauteed in olive oil and garlic like you would broccoli raab.
I planted my first ever planting of swiss chard last year. With Swiss Chard one sowing will last all season long, last year i planted them in early spring and harvested them all through fall. I had more than enough of swiss chard to last me awhile.
 

vfem

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Greenthumb18 said:
Umm swiss chard, i love eating them sauteed in olive oil and garlic like you would broccoli raab.
I planted my first ever planting of swiss chard last year. With Swiss Chard one sowing will last all season long, last year i planted them in early spring and harvested them all through fall. I had more than enough of swiss chard to last me awhile.
Oh that sounds great. How long until maturity when I can start stealing leaves? Though mine are only an inch tall right now.
 

chicken stalker

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I've never grown it before and I am amazed how colorful it is already. Mine have a while to go before I worry about thinning :)
6472_picture_035.jpg
 

modern_pioneer

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Mine are a little bigger, but your right they are pretty!! I found a recipe that some one added them to Italian wedding soup. I think my granny would roll over if I didn't use spinach!!

So can some one describe the taste?

I like oil and garlic combo, even in the mornings in my eggs!!! :drool
 

journey11

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I like mine chopped and steamed with chicken broth. The stalks are the best! So very, very good for you too.

I thin them to 6" apart. Swiss chard is nice because you can just keep picking on it and it comes back new from the center. You can even plant it in a bucket and force it through the winter I hear (gonna try that next). Such a big, sturdy root on it, it seems indestructable.
 

Greenthumb18

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modern_pioneer said:
Mine are a little bigger, but your right they are pretty!! I found a recipe that some one added them to Italian wedding soup. I think my granny would roll over if I didn't use spinach!!

So can some one describe the taste?

I like oil and garlic combo, even in the mornings in my eggs!!! :drool
It tastes like spinach but a little stronger. I find they look great in the garden as they grow with their white stalks and green crinkled leaves.
 

obsessed

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I love love love swiss chard. I would salute it it in a little bit of bacon and onions and wow its good. I also love the stems but I feel that way about collard greens as well.

I think swiss chard is either a perennial or biennial. I know in California it always grew year after year. I used to have to go and pick it off the hillside.
 

journey11

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obsessed said:
I love love love swiss chard. I would salute it it in a little bit of bacon and onions and wow its good.
I'm definitely gonna have to try that! :drool

It's a different taste...I'm trying to think how to describe it. Close to spinach, but no bitterness. Maybe a bit like beet greens.
 
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