Rainbow Chard... come on down

Jackfrost

I have been waiting patiently for my plants to do something and out of nowhere my rainbow chard has taken off and now my other plants are showing signs of increased growth.

I've always grown silverbeat but rainbow chard has such a nicer texture and flavour. I'd never heard of it until coming on here so thanks to those who mentioned it as I've been using it (from my dirt garden so far) in stews, curries, stirfry, braised over steak and I even put it in my toasted sandwiches.

For those interested I planted my rainbow chard in my AP and garden at the same time about 4 weeks ago and am only ready to start eating the AP plants but man the AP leaves are so much thicker and stronger than the dirt ones!

RupertofOZ

Jackfrost wrote:

but man the AP leaves are so much thicker and stronger than the dirt ones!

gazza

I too have only recently discovered the joys of the chard! Like yourself, we had a huge amount from the dirt garden, and used it up in chard and ricotta sausage rolls, stir frys (red curry was awesome) and all sorts of other meals. There are heaps of good recipes online. My AP chard is just starting to pick up, cant wait for them to overtake my dirt patch!

gorotsuki69

It was rainbow chard that flourished the best while my system was cycling.
The SP will nibble on a leaf, the chooks will only eat them if I hold up a leaf to them. They ignore it if I throw the chard on the ground geez I've really spoiled them haha

Snails and caterpillars avoid chard also

gazza

gorotsuki69 wrote:

Snails and caterpillars avoid chard also

Hmm not sure what is eating mine then

Jackfrost

gorotsuki69 wrote:

Snails and caterpillars avoid chard also

Yes amazing isn't it. I've had some nibbles but nothing like my silverbeats in the past although I've been more vigialant in picking off grubs to feed to my fish too

Jackfrost

“Rainbow Chard's vitamin K levels are almost shocking in their excess. You see there's enough vitamin K in one 150g serve of rainbow chard for six times your daily requirements. It's also packed with vitamins A, C and E. It is high in fibre and contains riboflavin and B6. It has high concentrations of manganese, magnesium, potassium, iron and other minerals. All of this amounts to a great food for preventing premature aging, colds and flu and aneamia. Chards are also high in beta-carotene, a strong anti-oxidant that helps to protect the eyes against sun damage and helps prevent heart disease and cancer.”

kellenw

I've grown chard a few times in my growbeds and it has always done extremely well, but it has always done so well in the dirt garden too, that I usually leave it out of the AP system.

faye

I love the colours and the look of the rainbow chard, and just want to grow it everywhere. I love the colour that it makes the egg yolks too!

SnowT

Well we are having our 3rd feed from the chard that is in AP system..

Mmm Nice..

Juergen

johnra

Can chard be eaten raw in salad? I assume from reading on here that it can be stir-fried like kale or other greens when cooking Asian food.

gazza

You could eat it raw, but with the huge number of delicious salad greens available in AP, i prefer my chard with a heap of ricotta cheese in sausage rolls.

gorotsuki69

Only the baby leaves are good raw. Older leaves are too bitter

Merrick

I cook my chard with butter and onion... not a tonn of butter.
I also juice it with ginger, carrot, celery and a bit of apple.

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johnra

When you have pest that eat on your chard, what do you do to get rid of them?

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