Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
|
#1
|
|||
|
|||
swiss chard
If you like pickled beets, try pickling the chard stems. Just cut them the
length of you jars, pack and pickle them. The rainbow chard is very pretty canned this way. Steve "songbird" wrote in message ... Derald wrote: songbird wrote: 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. Ha! Reminds me of my experience with Swiss chard. Based on what I now know to be faulty memories of chard, I planted a red-stemmed variety ("ruby") in January just to see.... Damned things taste like beet tops; ugh. After one meal, we literally sheared the tops, cooked and froze them and gave them to a neighbor who eats almost anything. Composted the roots. i wouldn't bother if you don't like beets. the whole idea is to get a nice beet green that has huge leaves. make a green burrito using one leaf. yumyum. Unconvinced of their total unpalatability, I have my eye on a green variety of chard that is purported to do well in FL: http://sustainableseedco.com/Lucullus-Chard-Seeds.html. Gonna try'em in the fall; maybe they're milder in flavor. If not, then I'll have to move the chard to the "don't bother" list. good luck. when it comes to matters of taste things are quite subjective. in one of the other groups (preserving) there is someone who hates beets and calls them dirt chunks. to me that is part of their appeal. they smell and taste a lot like dirt, but sweeter and redder and a lot less wear on the teef. At any rate, down here, chard seems to be relatively pest free, compared to spinach and other tender greens. The major pest was some kind of tiny green "worm" larva that was easily controlled by Bt. However, my garden is not a fair example because the same nematodes I use for root knot control also significantly reduce populations of certain flies, including leaf miners. i'm not seeing leaf miners here much at all. i think they will be a good refuge type plant for the good bugs. What does that mean? that means a plant that is left in place when the rest of the garden is in between plantings. like leaving one alfalfa plant growing in the middle of a 7x7ft garden so that the ladybugs have a place to be until the seeds for the next planting sprout. as we turn more and more of the perennial gardens into veggie gardens and with all the crushed limestone we have in the pathways there's not a lot of plants in some areas. if i want to keep good bugs around i better have some green space always available. preferably some flowers and a water source too as that helps keep the birds and bees around. songbird |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
swiss chard
Steve Peek wrote:
If you like pickled beets, try pickling the chard stems. Just cut them the length of you jars, pack and pickle them. The rainbow chard is very pretty canned this way. i'll likely do that if we have extra. diced and added to pickled beets or three bean salad. if we have a huge amount then i'll try canning whole stalks in a small batch for gifts. we like to use the beets and three bean salad as a topping for salads, larger pieces don't work so well for that application. songbird |
Reply |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
Swiss Chard bolting : Still edible ? | Edible Gardening | |||
swiss chard | Edible Gardening | |||
Swiss Chard? | United Kingdom | |||
Seeds/Swiss chard | Edible Gardening | |||
Swiss Chard & Beets turning brown | Gardening |