Do you call this Chard, Swiss Chard, Beetroot, or something else? This plant has so many names! But however you know it, it's a great vegetable to grow and to eat! Come into my post for a celebration of Chard and how well it grows here in Oregon's Willamette Valley.
Thanks to @lenasveganliving for hosting the FRUIT AND VEGGIES MONDAY! It's fun to celebrate the fruits and vegetables that feed us. And it's inspiring to see the creativity in cooking with them. Thanks to the sponsors, too.
Chard Likes Oregon's Willamette Valley
Chard is almost a weed here in Oregon's Willamette Valley. In my garden, it self-sows from some planting far in the past.
I like the Giant Chard the best, with it's wide stalks and big leaves. Sometimes the stalks are white, sometimes green, and sometimes bright, bright red.
I don't know whether this is a Fordhook Giant Chard or a Lucullus Chard. They both can make a big chard leaf! They are the same species as a Beet, but the plant's focus is on producing vegetation instead of roots.
These 2 Chard plants came up on their own, in my potato patch. By November, when I was harvesting potatoes for winter storage, they were big plants! You can see from the color of their stems that they have different genetics. But both were wonderful to eat!
Springtime is Time for Monster Chard
This is 1 plant, harvested last month. There's a lot of good eating from that single plant -- and that's not all. What do you think I did with the base of the plant?
That 1 plant wouldn't even fit on my kitchen counter. So I cut off all the large leaves. They still almost were too big for my counter!
I cut the stalks from the leaves, because they cook at such a different rate than the leaves.
So many people don't use Chard stalks. But they are so good! I pickle some of them. And they are great in stir fry and soup, too. Do you like Chard stalks?
The Chard Giant Lives On!
Chard wants to go to seed the 2nd year of its life. But when I cut all the leaves off and re-plant the base, I can get another whole season of production.
That's the old stump on the left, and what it looks like today, on the right. That's a lot faster production than from planting seeds in the spring!
What Do You Think?
- Do you call this plant Chard, Swiss Chard, Beetroot, or something else?
- Do you grow any of this plant?
- Do you eat this plant? If you do, what's your favorite way to use it?
Chard - Beta vulgaris
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Haphazard Homestead
foraging, gardening, nature, simple living close to the land
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In my country it is known as chard but it does not look like you are even the color
Very little you see this purple are all green this weekend I'll go to the market and try to take some pictures of some chard to show you their stem is true very useful for soups and sautéed is very good
I like to eat plants even prepare some salads with the plants with a little oil and vinegar are very good
My understanding is that chard is slightly different than beet greens. Having Ukrainian heritage, I have eaten my fair share of borsht and pickled beets. The rooe is a little too sweet for my taste but I love boiled beets greens and butter. But my son loves beet root and so I figure now I should start buying the root more often and make some brine pickles. We'd both love that. You can get chard in the store without the root but beet greens on their own are harder to come by. Love also that idea of pickling the stems ... a beer fermentation maybe???
As always a fabulously entertaining and educational post:):):) You rock:)
The chard greens definitely have a different consistency than regular beet greens. The chard is officially Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris, Cicla-Group and Flavescens-Group - while Beets are just Beta vulgaris. I like beet greens, too. It's kind of like the Wild Field Mustard (Brassica rapa) that has been bred into Bok Choy, Napa Cabbage, Rapini broccoli, and Turnips! That's a wide variety.
Those stalks would be good in the same mix as I use for Pickled Hop Shoots, for sure! I like them for Bread and Butter Pickles, too. I hope you can find some beet greens! But in their absence, the younger leaves of chard are more like beets than the bigger, older leaves.
Thank you, HH:)
Ooh! I love me some chard, and that is what it gets called around here, just chard. I have some Bright Lights that is getting close to being ready, the chard and cole crops are the only things liking our currently frigid and wet weather. Have grown Fordhook Giant too, but dang HH your chard got beyond gargantuan!
I have never thought about pickling the stalks, that's a lovely thought, think I will give that a go when my chard is ready. We are a bit behind your magnificent Willamette valley on the plant readiness timeline.
So glad to see a post from you, can't wait to see what you are going to be cooking up with all of that gorgeous foliage!
Hey, good to see you here, @generikat! I haven't been around much. But I know you have been occupied with other things, too. Chard is so fun to grow. Even just slicing the stalks and putting them in the pickle juice from the last jar of pickles you finished, makes those stalks pretty tasty. They aren't storage pickles, just refrigerator pickles. But that's easy. I'd say I hope your weather warms up, but given last year's fire issues, I say the longer it's cool and wet, the better off we all are. Enjoy your cole crops -- maybe it will be a Cabbage Summer instead of a Tomato Summer.
I don't know this plant, have never seen it before live, I think but looks like a good one. The stalks looks like rhubarb.
It's the same species of plant as Beets. But the focus is on the vegetation instead of the roots. I added that to my post. Maybe it will help folks know what plant this is. Sometimes the red varieties are called Rhubarb Chard. It sure doesn't taste like rhubarb, though! : )
That one you pulled is huge!! I usually call it Swiss Chard or just Chard. We have grown it in the past with moderate success. I love the idea of a quick pickle on the stems. I definitely use those, as well. I'll add them in when I am cooking the onions or other veggies that need more time to cook than the leaves. :)
Chard is my favorite green.
I'd call that one Swiss chard.
Pickling the stems!!!! OMG that sounds amazing because the stems are great. But you are right about the different cooking times.
I always cooked them together and the stems added that "crunch".
I love swiss chard. The beautiful colorful stems and the fresh green leaves make me want a o buy some everytime I see some.
We also have these beautiful specimens in South Africa. I never know the exact name. I just call it my giant spinach or monster chard. It used to come up like a weed all over the place year after year. But we have a drought now so water is not as liberally throw at the veggies (we usually put grey water on a few select gardens). Since then we've had no spinach. I either put those stalks through the juicer with carrots or feed it to my goats. They love their veggie treats
I am happy to see you joined us again @haphazard-hstead.............your chard is a beautiful giant and I love the idea to pickle the stalks. Usually I just boil them for veggie broth 🍒 🍌🍑🌿🍍🍓🍇
I always thought that veggie looks pretty... never felt like tasting it. Maybe I will buy it next time because now I'm curious about it haaa