I really must do some research at the store and see how much Swiss Chard costs. When I have looked, it looks like 6 to 10 leaves cost $2 or more.
Swiss Chard is a truly frugal vegetable. What I love the most about it is the fact that you harvest a few leaves at a time, rather than uproot the entire plant. I planted in September and these few plants will grow through to March or April when they can no longer survive the heat.
Here’s how to harvest Swiss Chard. You start out with a few plants that look like this:
I use a small paring knife to trim off all the big leaves, leaving just the smallest or two leaves, so the plants now looks like this:
And you get a harvest like this:
I steamed half of this to go with dinner tonight, and bagged up the other half to share with my boss and one of my coworkers tomorrow. I always share fresh veggies with them when I have extra.
I think it would be so cool to grow enough that I could sell at the local farmer’s market. Those farmer’s market farmers make a LOT of money off their produce. That’s where I should start figuring the savings my garden is providing us.
They would be the perfect container garden vegetable for someone who lives in an apartment and can only have a few plants. Several years ago, I started Bright Lights Swiss Chard in little pots (instead of direct seeding as I normally do), and when I knew what color each plant was I transplanted them into gallon containers and gave them to one of my coworkers. She harvested fresh Swiss Chard for months. She no longer works for our company but when we run into each other she has mentioned how much she loved the little container garden that year.
Have a wonderful evening.
Yours Truly,
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I’d love to hear how you cook your swiss chard — do you just eat the leaves or the stems or are both good? I see them in the store and have no clue what to do with them…
Thanks!
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Hi Frugalwannabe! There are a couple of ways I like to make Swiss Chard. The most frequent way is to just stuff the leaves, stem and all into a pot with a steamer at the bottom and water just to the top of the steamer. Put on a lid and bring to a boil. You can tell the greens are getting done when they start wilting. When I can put a fork into the stem easily, I know they are done. I usually serve them with butter and salt. Sometimes I’ll saute them in a skillet with butter. I have only bought Swiss Chard from the store once and it was very strong and almost bitter tasting. It is NOTHING like that fresh from the garden. I am also growing kale which my son loves, and I hope I like it better fresh as kale from the store isn’t very good, imo. Thanks for visiting and commenting!
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