Swiss Chard Update

Earlier I complained that I had spinach coming out my ears. Now the Swiss Chard has officially caught up! I planted two packages of seeds, some in the raised bed and some in the ground plot. Both are doing well.

As usual I planted them too close together. Some time I will get wise enough not to do that! The seeds are just so small! I always think some of them won't come up. Then they all do!

I always plant the variety called "Bright Lights". They come in all the colours of the rainbow - mostly green leaves, with some streaked with red, and a few dark burgundy. Then contrasting stems in red, orange, pink, yellow, white... The most striking one so far has a burgundy leaf, with a fine line of green around the stem and ribs, and a broad bright orange stem.

I've noticed they seem to come in different sizes, too. No matter how much room they have (or don't have), some grow large leaves and broad stems, and some are small with pencil thin stems and a modest leaf. The largest ones all seem to have red or pink stems, and the yellow ones all seem to be small. This must be a byproduct of all the genetic variety that gives them such diverse colouring!

The best part is, no matter what they look like, they taste great! Swiss Chard is one of those vegetables that I used to hate, but now that I am not a "youth" anymore, I just love. When I was 19 I used to work at a market garden, where we sold every kind of fruit and vegetable known to local growers. I used to shake my head at the crazy people (mostly with a few gray hairs) who bought greens like Swiss Chard. Once I had gray hairs of my own I tried Swiss Chard from the Farmers Market and discovered how delicious it is. I think taste buds have to mature before they can appreciate chard, spinach and other greens with their faintly bitter flavours.

We have been making Chard Cheese Pie (see last year's archive for a recipe), and this year we discovered the joys of chard steamed in foil packets over a campfire. It also works on the BBQ. For extra flavour, a bit of onion or herb is also welcome. I put the stems in a layer on the bottom and the leaves on top. The edges singe a little and this gives a great caramelized flavour to the rest of the chard. It turns out a little different every time but it's always good!