This year someone tilled all my kale seedlings up. In his defense, he did get rid of the weeds too. The weeds needed to go. The kale was an unfortunate victim in this ongoing saga of proper communication that we have going on around here.
Apparently.
On the other hand, most of the swiss chard survived the horror-filled early Spring tilling event. Lucky me!
Now what the heck do you do with swiss chard?
I've never grown it before. It just looked so pretty in the Seed Savers Exchange catalog that I couldn't help myself. The garden porn got me again. I'm helpless when it comes to that stuff, I swear.
Especially when it's a certified organic heirloom variety.
Somebody shoot me.
Anyway, not to worry about it going to waste. Chickens to the rescue, of course!
There I stood, courageous, with chard in hand, mere moments before the pack of starving raptors descended upon me. They look so innocent, but believe me, they are not. Just ask my mother-in-law.
Okay, I'm kidding. Except not the part about my mother-in-law (bless her heart, as she would say).
Just look at that adorable fuzzy butt!
Since you're dying to know, my shirt says, "plastic bags blow", which is something that I believe with my whole heart.
You would never guess it, but I had two jalapenos in my pocket during this feeding frenzy. Jalapenos have better luck in my pockets than eggs do, especially when they've been forgotten for several days.
Don't give me that look.
I really wish I had a couple sheep to mow my lawn. These birds just aren't getting very far with it.
And actually, I do plan to eat some of this chard myself. I'll let you know how it goes.
14 comments:
"Someone" mowed down the wheat that our eldest and her Grandpa Bob planted this summer....he thought it looked like grass, so he took the trimmer to it. It's come back with a vengeance and is even heading out now; we never told her that Daddy attempted to exterminate her crop. I'm glad your swiss chard survived! Let me know how you actually eat it. I've often thought it is too pretty not to have some growing in our yard someplace!
I'm all over this! Such a great idea! Can't wait for Saturday. 'll keep a look out for rhe button.
Thanks for stopping by my blog!
Michelle
Great photos! I love all the green. My grass is all "burnt up" because of the super hot, super dry conditions we've got :-(
Your photos don't look like amateur photos - they're all fantastic!!
My favorite thing to do with chard is stuffed meatloaf. Make your favorite meatloaf mix (I like 1/2 pork & 1/2 beef) and pat it into a rectangle on a piece of saran wrap (I know, I know, I haven't figured out how to avoid that yet). Then saute a bunch of chard, onions, mushrooms, garlic, etc and spread the mixture on the meat rectangle. Roll it up and bake it. YUM!
Eggs in a Nest from AVM is good, too.
Happy gardening & cooking!
easiest way to eat it is to tear it into pieces and mix with your lettuce and eat it in a salad.
how easy is that?
btw--i like plastic bags for a few reasons: when we use disposable diapers, it is nice to wrap the stinky stinky STINKY ones in them and for garbage can liners. I have a friend who doesn't buy plastic bags because she uses target/walmart/drugstore bags.
but you are right, plastic bags DO blow, in the wind! he he! I am so FUNNY!
Hey, at least you can grow things! I kill everything growing/living in plant form. :) No advice as to what to do with what you grew...but have fun with it!!!
Cook that chard up like any greens. Then serve, with butter and a bit of vinegar, salt and pepper added after it is on each plate. It would even be good served over a piece of toast with a sliced,hard boiled egg. I do spinich that way. Wish I had some....yummy. BTW Amy,that stuffed meatloaf sounds GOOD! The M-in-L
I grabbed your button for the facing yourself challenge. I'm so excited about doing it that I could wet myself!
Great idea!
I'm on day two of my 31 days of self portraits and I'm having a great time!
Michelle
We have chard coming in our CSA box this week...hope it's good! I need to get on this self-portrait thing....good job!
I love rainbow chard! :D We planted it last year - I left it in the garden even when it was huge because it was so pretty.
I was going to plant it this year again... but I couldn't find any seeds.
I really want to be brave enough to do self-portraits. Sigh.
I love story time by Jess - I'm such a city girl that I like looking into your world. And thanks for the reminder about the Facing Myself project. Need to have a new self-portrait!
ACK! You just broke my chard lovin' heart! My kids eat it raw like lettuce in the garden. I use it in soups and stir fries and you can dry it like basil to throw in salads in the winter. I also love it just steamed with a little salt and lemon juice...delicious!
Thanks for visiting, I LOVE other farm blogs and so seldom find them. I will most certainly be back! Kim
seriously- I SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOo wish you lived closer!!!... I was about to ask you "hey, does your shirt say "plastic bags blow?" because I ordered Champ a shirt like that and he wears it all the time and I believe..." you get the picture AND THEN you answer my question right here in the post! Amazing!
That one photo of the chard and you holding it with just your jeans and the huge chard in the picture is stunning! I love pictures like that. As for the seed catalog I had to force myself to not order chard seeds this year because our CSA provides me with more than I'd ever need and I don't even like the stuff. Kale though? delicious Kale- I'm so sorry for your loss :(
My favorite thing to do with Swiss Chard is to tear 5 or 6 leaves into 1-2" strips and sautee it with stir frys.
My Mexican Stir Fry:
Sautee 1 big onion, in oil with garlic. When onion is close to done, add in chopped bell pepper, Swiss Chard, and cooked rice. Add Cumin, salt, pepper, red pepper, oregano and Worcestershire sauce to taste. Mix it all up and let the Chard and peppers cook a little, and the rice soak up all the goodness. The chard will wilt and lose some of the bitterness and it adds a nice bit of green to the otherwise brownish dish. (Colorful bell peppers help too)
Enjoy!
Oh, and I'm here by way of Inadvertent Farmer. :-) Nice to "meet" you. :-D
Post a Comment