Swiss Chard anyone? ????

[Poboy kartman]

So....Spring is still aways off here...,but...there's a bunch of stuff to do already....starting peppers and tomatoes indoors....setting out onion sets...prepping beds for Spring.....plus ...planting a bunch of cool weather veggies....beets,turnips,carrots,and lettuce to name a few.....

So anyway....one of the things I planted in the flat of six-packs was Swiss Chard....not necessary....(actually....even recommended) .....but...while the plants get set back a bit when transplanted.....it helps in plant spacing..,.and reduces one more thing in the busy warm weather spring planting bustle.....

So......here's the question: Have you heard of/ eaten/ tried to grow Swiss Chard.....and....just for grins....anyone grow any unusual veggies or....heck with it.....plants of any kind?

 

[denhammotors]

Sure I grow tons of plants. Not ones you can eat, but native trees and shrubs mainly. Don't know anything about Swiss chard. Can't imagine it being very good.

 

[Poboy kartman]

Sure I grow tons of plants. Not ones you can eat, but native trees and shrubs mainly. Don't know anything about Swiss chard. Can't imagine it being very good.

Well....to each his own.....but actually there are some varieties of Swiss Chard that make desirable edible landscape plants.....such as 'Bright Lights' and 'Ruby'.....

As for as eating goes...it's my favorite green....milder and tastier than spinach....I still can't figure out why it's such an obscure plant in gardens and grocery stores.....

It's a fairly hardy plant....surviving temps well below freezing....but also able to handle the heat....and very slow to bolt.....it isn't particularly fussy about sun.....while it prefers full.....it will do surprisingly well in all but the shadiest areas.....its able to survive drought conditions and still produce some harvest.....under anything but adverse conditions....it's fast growing and super productive.....

It's a member of the beet family.....and the 'Ruby' variety could easily be mistaken for rhubarb.....the normal varieties have green leaves and white slalks....while 'Bright Lights' has many different pastel colored stalks and green leaves......

 

[KartFab]

This is what I'm growing (or attempting) this year:

Ambrosia cantaloupe, Crimson sweet watermelon, sugar baby watermelon, black diamond watermelon.
Anaheim peppers, mini sweet bell, jalapeño.
Champion tomato, Roma tomato, tomatillo, sun sugar tomato.
Texas sweet onion, garlic, coriander(cilantro).
Pinto beans, spinach, little marvel peas.
Strawberries for last year will mature, 'sequoia' variety.
Grapes from last year will produce, concord, seedless green, seedless red.
Fruit trees, who knows? I planted thdm last year and pulled off all little fruits, I kind of want to leave 1 or two hanging on the tree this year. Who knows?

 

[Poboy kartman]

Grant: A few things....first....I might be trading some seeds with you.....

Now....some recommendations for varieties: .....If you can find them: 'Sweet n Early cantaloupe......and....Dadgummit.....there is another kind of melon that looks just like a cantaloupe....but it's bigger....and sweeter.....saw it in Albertsons....and wondered why it was $5.....while cantalopes were $1....saved seed...and they did well here....(I'll get back to you when I remember what they were)....BTW: 'Sweet n. Early' outperformed just about all the other varieties put together ....and they were really good.....

Ok.....Jalapenos.....my favorite back in the day: 'Jalapa'.....(big round nosed not too hot peppers) ......but....man...if I could take the heat....I'd. start plants from whatever variety those 4" ones Wal-mart sells are......

'Jupiter' is my favorite green bell.....

And 'Celebrity' is my standby variety....against which all newcomer tomatoes are judged....and it keeps winning...year after year.....SO common and easy to find...I never start from seed....

And pintos......if you haven't tried this yet....you need to.....when they are still small....(just starting to bulge)....pick them and boil them with a little bacon....same flavor as 'Italian' pole beans....or 'Kentucky Wonders"....but need to be boiled just a hair longer to be tender.....

EDIT: The cantaloupe type melon I was trying to remember was an 'Israeli' melon.....another good melon to grow is 'Santa Claus'......

OOPS : DOUBLE EDIT: I thought of 'Israeli' right away....but it just didn't seem quite right....about after nothing came to me...so I googled it...and thought that was maybe it....then this afternoon...I was going through my seeds and found some "Tuscan melon " seeds....which is what I was thinking of....it's actually a cantaloupe....

 

[chancer]

Good thing we don't have any "Gardeners" on here from Colorado!

 

[Poboy kartman]

Good thing we don't have any "Gardeners" on here from Colorado!

That's not gardening! !!! "Weedkillers" are big business in Texas....lol....

EDIT:......Do you have any variety recommendations.......I'm. partial to 'Jamaican me Crazy" myself......

 

[chancer]

Nope I am strictly a Marlboro man

 

[Poboy kartman]

Nope I am strictly a Marlboro man

Hmmmmm.....now that you mention it....last time I checked the price of a pack of those....that may be the most lucrative cash crop going!!!!!

EDIT: BTW:.....Around here....Marlboros...(which used to be my favorite cigarette) ....are nearly $7 a pack....I now smoke Phillies.....which are filtered cigarette sized cigars....and are $1.39 a pack.....and after smoking these a while...I can barely stand the smell of a cigarette......

But the best smoke is.....no smoke at all....but sometimes that's almost impossible to acquire.....

So....the best thing is ....JUST DON'T START!!!!....It's much much easier to put something downif you never pick it up!!!!!

 

[landuse]

Hmmmmm.....now that you mention it....last time I checked the price of a pack of those....that may be the most lucrative cash crop going!!!!!

EDIT: BTW:.....Around here....Marlboros...(which used to be my favorite cigarette) ....are nearly $7 a pack....I now smoke Phillies.....which are filtered cigarette sized cigars....and are $1.39 a pack.....and after smoking these a while...I can barely stand the smell of a cigarette......

But the best smoke is.....no smoke at all....but sometimes that's almost impossible to acquire.....

So....the best thing is ....JUST DON'T START!!!!....It's much much easier to put something downif you never pick it up!!!!!

I used to smoke. I gave up nearly 8 years ago now. I still get the craving a bit when someone is close to me having a smoke

 

[Poboy kartman]

I used to smoke. I gave up nearly 8 years ago now. I still get the craving a bit when someone is close to me having a smoke

Jeeze....that means you haven't been spending all that money on smokes!!!!

Send all that extra to: "The Poboy for President Fund Raiser"....

 

[landuse]

Jeeze....that means you haven't been spending all that money on smokes!!!!

Send all that extra to: "The Poboy for President Fund Raiser"....

I wish i knew where all that extra money has gone. It just isn't there at the end of the month like I thought it would be

 

[RobertD]

I like chard. Rather put the real estate into spinach, but it does survive like crazy (hot and cold). I'll do a bunch of tiny tomatoes called "Matt's Millions", they are smaller than a marble, and amazing. If you can find them, grow them.

Always got my standby herbs -- bay tree, lemongrass, rosemary, thyme, etc for cooking. Those are all year.

Might try onions again this year. We'll see!

 

[Poboy kartman]

I like chard. Rather put the real estate into spinach, but it does survive like crazy (hot and cold). I'll do a bunch of tiny tomatoes called "Matt's Millions", they are smaller than a marble, and amazing. If you can find them, grow them.

Always got my standby herbs -- bay tree, lemongrass, rosemary, thyme, etc for cooking. Those are all year.

Might try onions again this year. We'll see!

YEAAAAHHHHH.... onions......... Now....to be fair....I never really got them in the ground. SOON enough.....eh hnmmm....hint..hint...Robert...tick. tick.tick...they should be in the ground NOW!!!!

Anyway...never have had a decent onion crop....but my sets. 10/15Y and Yellow Granex...are already in the ground...so maybe they will do better. this year...we'll see......

BTW....You are just a bit further south than me...but .......a bay tree?????? How cold can those get and still survive? ??

 

[RobertD]

I've had bay in the ground and in pots. I moved a few years ago, at the new house I haven't put this potted one in the ground yet. But when established and protected it'll live in Austin. Good looking evergreen, too.

Edit: and to be honest, I've killed more than one!!! That's why I haven't put this latest one in the ground. It's looking great potted.

 

[Poboy kartman]

So....towards the end of August.....Okra is about the only thing surviving around here in the drought years.....but....this made it through that and the winter....

I do have a dilemma....there are 2closely spaced plants there....and while you can get away with transplanting when young....the grownups are a bit more fussy.....

 

[Poboy kartman]

Okay!!!!! Good eating on the stove.....but...OOPS!.... Not two plants....but one...with not one...but 3 offshoots.....and what threw me was this was my first successful overwintered "Bright Lights" Swiss Chard....and apparently the offshoots don't share the coloration of the parent plant....(in this case red)....

Anyway....that's a big meal all by itself for me....and that plant will look almost like I never came near it in 3 or 4 days.....

EDIT: BTW:....That harvest cooked down to the equivalent of about a can and a half of canned spinach.....