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Post by Jim on Jul 29, 2008 8:33:10 GMT -5
So I keep contemplating growing swiss chard. It looks good, but I've never eaten it. How do you prepare it? Do you have a favorite variety?
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Post by MawkHawk on Jul 29, 2008 9:23:13 GMT -5
I grew it last year and this year. My wife really likes it but it's just OK to me. It's a nice salad green to use thru the summer tho. We usually steam it or saute with some EVOO for a bit in a pan. If you cook it tho you need a lot of it. It's fairly easy to grow but is bothered by slugs for me. We've been growing Bright Lights and Fordhook.
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Post by canadamike on Jul 29, 2008 10:10:40 GMT -5
I am in total agreement with Mawkhawk here. In the garden where I grow them, I did not see one slug up to now, every bed is surrounded by lots of sawdust, all the pathways etc... but it is still a favorite of some insect I have not seen, chewing on it. The funny thing is they seem to prefer the reds.
The chef I supply makes a kick ass soup out of it, and loves the sauteed stems to put color in his plates.
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Post by Jim on Jul 29, 2008 10:19:11 GMT -5
Thanks for the info...It's on my next year grow list now.
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Post by landarc on Jul 29, 2008 16:54:08 GMT -5
I love chard, not so hot for the colored ones, although they are quite pretty. I do grow the Fordhook and love all of the green Swiss chards. They make excellent additions to soup, fried up in bacon fat, sauted with garlic and olive oil, it's all good. And it grows easy.
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Post by grungy on Jul 29, 2008 17:12:47 GMT -5
Steam it, sprinkle a little vinegar over it and a dab of butter. Or the old fashioned way is to cook it with just a little water in the pan, about 3-5 minutes (until well wilted) and serve it with a dab of butter and its own pot liquor. If you like greens its great.
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Post by Alan on Jul 30, 2008 11:18:59 GMT -5
Chard's not bad, not my favorite green, but not too awful bad. I've been growing a segregating mix of Bright Lights crossed to some other individual colors for a couple of years, it sells well locally, but is almost always considered locally a "second choice" type of green.
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Post by lavandulagirl on Aug 4, 2008 10:26:06 GMT -5
CB - you cn also use the larger leaves for recipes that call for cabbage... you know, like cabbage rolls, or stuffed cabbage leaves. We do that a lot at our house.
Instead of growing it next year, why not put it in that fall garden you're contemplating? I'm growing some this fall. It's pretty cold hardy.
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Post by lavandulagirl on Aug 4, 2008 10:28:16 GMT -5
... but it is still a favorite of some insect I have not seen, chewing on it. The funny thing is they seem to prefer the reds. |
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Post by Jim on Aug 4, 2008 14:23:57 GMT -5
Good idea lavandulagirl. I need to get atleast one bed going before fall.
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Post by canadamike on Aug 4, 2008 14:28:46 GMT -5
DARN DETECTIVE!!
You just solve my mystery. There is , in fact, a goldfinch commonly going in my patch ( I never saw him much on it though...), and the said patch is close to my maters patch number one, the only which has tomatoes eaten by a bird, I can recognise the beak imprint in the fruits. And it matches the size of the goldfinch's...
Are you sure you're not a medium or a witch ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Post by lavandulagirl on Aug 4, 2008 23:14:47 GMT -5
Bwahahaha! I will never reveal my powers in their entirety!
Actually... I know a lot of stuff. I'm just not gardening this year, so no one notices. I'm laying fallow, as it were.
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Post by canadamike on Aug 5, 2008 0:03:46 GMT -5
I learned more today about the goldfinch: Every morning, it goes to my friend's windows and knocks on it with its beak. Then he wakes up and the bird flies in the tree where it sings.
Luc is very moved by this. His mother died recently of cancer, she was very serene about it, and he asked her, just before :'' Once on the other side, come and tell me how it is''. They laughed.
He says it is his mother. And about the tomatoes, he laughs and says that his mom liked to make jokes and laugh a lot...
Lav, no comprendo : ''I'm laying fallow, as it were.'' You got me on that one...
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Post by Tom Akers on Aug 5, 2008 0:33:33 GMT -5
I love Swiss Chard, but I actually like beet greens even more. I particularly like Lutz Green Leaf or Winter Keeper for greens. Unfortunately, for some strange, unknowable reason, my wife will only cook Rhubarb Chard.   I have not been able to get an answer, at least one I could understand, for the reason behind this. I just shut up and eat my chard.   |
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Post by canadamike on Aug 5, 2008 9:14:52 GMT -5
Funny. Like most here, I grow different veggies, we sure get out of the ''grocery store'' pattern quite easily. I get these ''color reactions'' from my wife often, either it is that it is too different and she is suspicious or she will make the decision that ''this color tastes better''... When a blind test is suggested, a get a sweet ''ah! bug off'' and a laugh... hey! women are more visual than us, and, being maried, you know that once they have decided something, what can we do?
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I have not been able to get an answer, at least one I could understand, for the reason behind this.
