Thursday, June 18, 2009

Swiss Chard

The Swiss chard I planted is ready for harvesting, all at once, all two rows of it. Way too much for us, so I will freeze it. I didn't pull the plants because Swiss chard grows all year in my area, or so I've been told. I imagine that at some point the plant will stop producing many leaves so it will be at that point that I'll use the frozen chard. It can used much like spinach and I'm looking forward to sauteing it with garlic and olive oil, using it in ravioli, in soups, with beans..my mouth is watering.


So, first, wash the chard really, really well. I add some salt to the water to kill any unwanted little critters.







Bring a pot of water to boil and as you wait for the water, roughly chop the chard. Add the chard to the water and boil for two minutes. Quickly place the chard in cold water and then into a strainer.







Divide the cooled and strained chard into zip lock bags.





Label and freeze.

4 comments:

Powell River Books said...

I've never tried growing chard. Can you eat it raw like spinach or only cooked? - Margy

SuburbanGardener said...

Wow. That's a lot of chard. Our potatoes kinda finished up all at the same time in May. Oh well. Be grateful, right? Looks like you have some good stuff there!!
SG

Scrappy quilter said...

Swiss chard will grow right until freeze up. We love it and like you freeze it. I love it in lasagna as well. One of the best plants to grow because it never stops and has tons of vitamins.

Kari said...

Have you grown any yellow peppers? I have a little plant and it has 3 small peppers on it, but they just stopped growing. They're still alive, but smaller than my fist. Any suggestions for a novice gardner about what to do now?