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swiss chard
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 |
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