Swiss Chard ??

CarolynPhillips 2/11/2012, 11:47 am

I have never grown Swiss Chard but I noticed when I sowed the seed that they were knotty , kinda like beet seeds. My seed germinated and there are multi plants from the one seed like beets do. I know you are suppose to thin beets but are you suppose to thin the Chard too.....snipping out all but one plant per seed that has germinated or do you just let the whole cluster grow since there are no large roots balls that need spacing?

Lavender Debs 2/11/2012, 12:24 pm

They are cousins. I do not thin mine BUT I am not a very good gardener. The strong survive, the weak become micro greens (maybe that is thinning)

CarolynPhillips 2/11/2012, 12:37 pm

thank you for helping me think. I didn't think about micro greens and that makes a lot of sense to me.

I have never eaten Chard either so I have no idea what I am getting in to. I read that it normally takes the place of spinach..... more versatile, more abundant, and easier to grow than spinach.

**Furbalsmom** 2/11/2012, 12:39 pm

Carolyn

I never thinned my swiss chard as I planted the seeds at the desired spacing. I always harvest the outer Swiss Chard leaves when they are still pretty small, so that keeps the plants from overwhelming the space.

plantoid 2/11/2012, 1:02 pm

Furbalsmom wrote:Carolyn

I never thinned my swiss chard as I planted the seeds at the desired spacing. I always harvest the outer Swiss Chard leaves when they are still pretty small, so that keeps the plants from overwhelming the space.

Can you advise please..
When I grew Swiss Chard in earth beds over the last few years it tasted earthy & I was the only one eating it lightly steamed , does this change when grown in MM ?
I still have a few seeds left ( last year of use ) and would love a delicate spinach taste from them

**Furbalsmom** 2/11/2012, 1:11 pm

plantoid, did you wait for the leaves to get fairly large before harvesting? That may make a difference. Mine were usually picked when they were about 8 inches from stem to tip. I have only grown them in MM on my porch in planters. I thought they tasted more like spinach, but usually sauted them or put them in soups.

AranMC 2/11/2012, 1:22 pm

Chard really needs to be eaten young, once it grows big it gets tough and tastes very, very strong like that dark cabbage our mothers used to overcook and oversalt...yucky...

plantoid 2/11/2012, 1:35 pm

Thanks folks,
That was what I was hoping to hear .. looks like I let them get a bit to big , they were nearly tobacco crop sized leaves Laughing

I will retry them this year in MM , pick hand span long and see how it pans out.

**walshevak** 2/11/2012, 1:56 pm

Even the overgrown leaves can be made into tasty dishes with some seasoning. I was trying to "doctor up" some large leaves and and fell into a curry flavor.

Shred the leaves into 1/2 wide strips

saute onions in olive oil and add golden raisins and a little chicken broth and curry powder to taste. When the raisins plump up, add the chard and stir fry until wilted down.

there is another recipe using dried cranberries and orange juice somewhere on the forum.

Luci Dawson 2/11/2012, 3:05 pm

Another riff on walshevak's recipe is to omit the raisins and curry, then saute onion and garlic in a bit of olive oil/butter, add the broth and crushed red peppers before stir frying the chard.

Lavender Debs 2/11/2012, 3:43 pm

If you have big, crisp leaves.....

1. Make a pot of tomato-spaghetti sauce.

2. Shred up a mess of mozzarella cheese (a pound or more)

3. Have pasta ready (Lasagna noodles, boiled or dry, or whatever else you have.

4 Chop up a big bunch of chard and parsley. Stir it into 2 cups of cottage cheese or ricotta with a chopped onion, a minced clove of garlic, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg.

Preheat the oven to 375*F

Spread a thin layer of sauce over the bottom of a 9x13-ish pan. Cover the sauce with a layer of noodles. Using a bit less than half the ricotta mix, dollop the ricotta over the noodles. Add 1/4 of the tomato sauce. Burry the sauce with half the shredded mozzarella.

Start over with the layers. Another 1/4 of the tomato sauce, another layer of noodles, the rest of the ricotta, and another 1/4 of the tomato sauce. Sprinkle on the rest of the mozzarella. Cover that with the rest of your noodles, followed by every last drizzle of your tomato sauce.

Sprinkle a cheese like parmesan over the final layer of tomato sauce.

Bake for 45 minutes. If it starts to dry out you can cover it all with foil (it helps to pre fit the foil to your pan and to spray it with oil). Let it stand at least 10 minutes after it comes out of the oven, longer is better but who can wait longer? Dig in.

Best swiss chard ever! ....unless you count all the fat..... (don't count the fat....low fat ricotta and skim mozzarella work as well as full fat.)

AranMC 2/11/2012, 3:56 pm

Oh yum......*drooling*

thanks

CarolynPhillips 2/11/2012, 6:00 pm

Those are some nice recipes. Thank you for the ideas.
I sowed too many chard seeds (due to ignorance) Shocked

200 for me and 200 for my sister. Rolling Eyes

Ha-v-v 2/11/2012, 7:39 pm

CarolynPhillips wrote:Those are some nice recipes. Thank you for the ideas.
I sowed too many chard seeds (due to ignorance)
200 for me and 200 for my sister.

lololol I understand!

Sponsored content

Swiss Chard ??

Swiss Chard ??

Re: Swiss Chard ??

Re: Swiss Chard ??

Re: Swiss Chard ??

Re: Swiss Chard ??

Re: Swiss Chard ??

Re: Swiss Chard ??

Re: Swiss Chard ??

Re: Swiss Chard ??

Re: Swiss Chard ??

Re: Swiss Chard ??

Re: Swiss Chard ??

Re: Swiss Chard ??

Re: Swiss Chard ??

Re: Swiss Chard ??


	Hello Guest! Welcome to the official Square Foot Gardening Forum. There's lots to learn here by reading as a guest. However, if you become a member (it's free, ad free and spam-free) you'll have access to our large vermiculite databases, our seed exchange spreadsheets, Mel's Mix calculator, and many more members' pictures in the Gallery. Enjoy.