Monday, May 26, 2014

Swiss Chard

I really love my Swiss chard.

  1. I love the way it grows so happily in mostly-shady situations. Some of mine grows where it only gets about 3 hours of sunlight a day.  
    Swiss chard growing beside my house. It only gets
    about 3 hours of sunlight, and that in the afternoon.
  2. I love the taste of it.
  3. I love that in my Southern garden, I can grow it most of the year.
  4. I love that Swiss chard is pretty enough to grow in the front yard garden. 
The only time I can't grow Swiss chard is when it is going to seed. Luckily, this year, my son's Junior Master Gardeners group took the Swiss chard they had growing out and I was able to plant this plant to tide me over until the seeds come in and my baby Swiss chard plants are big enough to harvest.

Swiss chard given to our family by the leaders of the Junior Master Gardeners
Swiss chard going to seed. 

Baby Swiss chard in the garden. 

8 comments:

  1. I like to grow Swiss Chard too because it is so easy. The only problem is I haven't learned to like it very well! Nancy

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    1. I am not very good about eating my greens, but Swiss chard I like.

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  2. Hey Cristy, long time no see. I see you are still going strong. I have started back and would like to invite you to my new facebook page. Let me know if you are interested.

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    1. I still post some, but not nearly as strong as when we both started.

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  3. Swiss chard is super. I'm not sure which I like better--spinach or chard. The rainbow colored chard sure is more attractive! Who doesn't like a little rainbow in their garden bed! We like it because it doesn't bolt in the heat the way spinach does. We've never tried to save our own seed from either plant though. That is something we'd like to start doing more of.

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    1. I have been working with this chard to try to save seeds for what seems like a long time. We had a really heavy rain storm after the chard had flowered. Now I am just hoping I can keep it alive until it can produce seeds. I'll update the blog if I get seeds.

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  4. Chard is a biennial. Give it till the second year and you should be able to get seed from it. Just another reason I like it! My favorite way to cook it is to sweat some onions in bacon grease and then add the chard, stir it good and let it sort of simmer in that yummy goodness. You might need to add a tiny bit of water but usually you won't need to. If you like it, add a touch of balsamic vinegar. Yummmmy

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, SciFi. That sounds like a good recipe.

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