Farm1 wrote:
songbird wrote:

the package says "average soil"

I find that being a green (I plant the green ones rather than the rainbow
ones) silver beet ('chard' to you) goes best in rich soil, but then I am a
huge fan of silver beet (chard) and use it copiously.




Ma asked me what it was like and i said,
"Yummy, like beets, but greener!" this mix
is four colors, so i will be curious as to how
they do here. i've always loved it, always
wanted to grow some, but until now we've not
had the space in the fenced garden for a plant
like this, but now it's in. i'm looking
forwards to learning yet another thing this
year.

You mean you haven't planted it before? How did you survive without it?

i started buying it at the store years ago
when i lived away. i liked it a lot. once i
moved back i got out of the habit. it wasn't
in the store here often.

and not enough space in the gardens before
now. this year i've got the tulip beds and
can use them later in the season for beans
and peas that gives me several hundred more
square feet of space in the fenced garden.
also i finished reshaping another 2000ish sq
ft garden (used to be a perennial garden only)
and that will be for beans and peas too. around
the north edge i'll put the okra and the chard
is already in.


i think they will be a good refuge type plant
for the good bugs.

Who cares about the bugs when it's one of those great plants for humans -
bugs aren't particulalrly welcome round it if they are going to compete with
me for the leaves.

i'm talking about the good bugs like lady
beetles, lacewings or bees. food, habitat
and nectar.


let grow untouched first year and harvest
next year?

Nope. As soon as the leaves are big enough and there are enough of them,
then pick some. It's a cut and come again plant but pick the leaves from
the outside. Really tiny leaves are superb in salads. Huge leaves are
loved by the chooks or any sort of livestock round here.




As David mentioned, there is that conundrum about eating the stems and/or
the leaves. The stems are nice with white sauce to which cheese has been
added. Steamed leaves are great in Greek Cheese triangles made with philo
pastry and of course there is always Spanakopita (sp??).

i'm good with it all. a little crunch is
fine too. i've eaten entire leaves raw and
just folded the stem up into whatever i was
using to fill it (using the leaf as a wrap).


And as for the people who say that they must first fry bacon, I'm wondering
how on earth they are eating it. The only time I add bacon is if I am using
the tiny leaves in a salad and then those leaves are only a minor part of
the salad and I only use a tiny amount of really crispy bacon bits to give a
bit more crunch to the salad.

You will find some recipe ideas for it here, but being an aussie site you'll
need to use using the term 'silver beet' - I got 34 recipe hits but they
don't have either the Greek cheese triangles or the salad I use it in. It
goes great with cheesey additions:
http://www.taste.com.au/

thanks. i'll check it out.


songbird