obsessed
Deeply Rooted
Actually swiss chard are beets which have been selectively bread for leafy growth verses the root.
Questions about Swiss Chard....
- Thread starter modern_pioneer
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lesa
Garden Master
This is one of my all time favorite plants. It is very easy to grow, very easy to store and very good for you!!! I steam mine for a few minutes and freeze in bags. I can add this to soups, stir fries and pasta, all winter long. When you add it to pasta it kind of disappears, so you get all that nutrition without too much flavor... I love it with balsamic vinegar, onion and garlic...The chickens love it, and it continues to produce well into winter, depending on conditions...
ducks4you
Garden Master
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How do you go about steaming them--not really a steamer type of cooker, you see?lesa said:
lesa
Garden Master
I am sure you could just blanch in the traditional way- but I have a steamer pot- holes in one part, pan in the other. I just fill it up and steam until the chard kind of shrinks down a little,,,not very scientific I'm afraid!
vfem
Garden Addicted
Oh yes! I have one of those, and I will for sure trying steaming my chard to save if I can. If it is anything like spinach, it will be worshipped by me in the garden for sure.lesa said:
jackb
Garden Master
Here is a link to the health benefits of swiss chard:
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=16#healthbenefits
I grow it in the greenhouse and it is fantastic!
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=16#healthbenefits
I grow it in the greenhouse and it is fantastic!
RedClayGardener
Garden Ornament
This is my second year growing chard. I found a recipe from Rick Bayless that sautees onions and garlic until they are carmelized then adds swiss chard. Then you put that mixture into warm corm tortillas and sprinkle it with cheese and add some chipotle salsa. It sounds awesome! I also found a lot of recipes at foodiefarmgirl.com. She is a huge chard fan.
freshfood
Chillin' In The Garden
I am likewise going to try Swiss Chard for the first time. Have y'all seen the books by Eliot Coleman? He lives in Maine and uses cold frames and UNHEATED greenhouses to grow upwards of seventy varieties of cold weather crops year round...mostly greens and root veggies, but heck, in January, I'll take it!
Anyway, Swiss chard is one of the plants he grows all winter, also kale, spinach, and several salad greens...though actually he points out that he isn't growing them, he's harvesting them. He plants at the end of the season, which is extended by use of the cold frames, and the plants grow slowly all winter, allowing harvest from November through May. Fascinating book.
Anyway, Swiss chard is one of the plants he grows all winter, also kale, spinach, and several salad greens...though actually he points out that he isn't growing them, he's harvesting them. He plants at the end of the season, which is extended by use of the cold frames, and the plants grow slowly all winter, allowing harvest from November through May. Fascinating book.
lesa
Garden Master
freshfood- sounds like a very interesting book... I have had swiss chard over winter before. Pulled mine up, this year, but if you put a little mulch over it, you will find it alive in the center, come spring.
