Comments on: Rainbow Chard: Red Light, Green Light

By: moonwatcher

moonwatcher — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 05:12:23 +0000

Hi Nicole! Yep, it is one nutritional powerhouse for sure. Greens that reseed is one of my favorite garden joys. Thanks so much for stopping by. I always enjoy it when you do. xoxox

By: Nicole O'Shea

Nicole O'Shea — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 02:04:19 +0000

Hi Maria!

Wow – I never knew how good chard was for you! I am going to have to add it back into my diet; it has been excluded since I started the E.D. more than a year ago! However, it is on sale this week at the store down the street from me, I noticed today….might need to cook me up some chard and apples!

I had no idea you could reseed chard, either! There is so much about gardening I do not know. One day, hopefully, I will learn.

xoxo

Nicole

By: moonwatcher

moonwatcher — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 17:28:49 +0000

Good morning, Marsha! Thanks for you lovely comment. Yes, Stockton is just a stone’s throw from Sacramento. Those valleys are a great place to get the gardening bug, aren’t they? But a far cry from the Nevada desert! It’s very dry here in Idaho, too, but we have the moisture from snow melting into the ground (if the ground doesn’t freeze first) to help us out. I’m no expert on gardening in the desert, but Gary Nabhan comes to mind. He is an ethnobotanist/seed saver/farmer who lives in the Southwest and writes about all this. Several years ago I read one of his books called “Coming Home to Eat” and it was very inspiring to me at the time. I remember he grew squash in a satellite dish out in the dessert! Seems like there must at least be a “desert’ way to grow the “three sister”–squash, corn and beans–since the Native Americans did that

Here is Nabhan’s web site, which looks pretty neat: http://garynabhan.com/i/

His books are more “about” than “how to” but they might give you some ideas. Perhaps also you could create a sort of inexpensive structure that creates shade/dappled light for the greens so they are not always in direct scorching sun. I would love to hear what you come up with, and wish you the best of luck creating a desert–I hope to hear that you got a good start!

By: moonwatcher

moonwatcher — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 17:19:08 +0000

Thanks, carollynne! The magic of gardening is that its different every year. So maybe your greens will have a better year this year. And maybe because you didn’t till up before winter you will see some tiny seedlings. I hope so!! Nice to hear from another chard lover, too.

By: Marcia

Marcia — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 16:36:18 +0000

Good morning Maria! Thank you for your always positive, mouthwatering blogs! You are an inspiration for us all.

We used to have a garden when we lived in California (started in Stockton which is about 40 miles from Sacramento!) and I LOVED it! My parents are the ones that got us started as children and I’ve had the bug ever since.

We now live in Henderson, NV which is HOT (putting it mildly) and the place we rent has nothing but rocks, rocks and more rocks so no place to garden. Over the years, I’ve tried planters and other containers but nothing has worked. Everything dies even with daily care and water (when needed).

I MISS walking out and getting fresh veggies for daily meals. Do you have any suggestions for working with our weather? I am willing to try again, I just hate wasting the money to buy things and then have them die. I’d appreciate your input.

Sincerely,
Marcia

By: carollynne kelly

carollynne kelly — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 12:24:52 +0000

Wow, I am in awe of your reseedlings. I am trying to grow more greens in my veggie garden, and last summer, the bugs got most of it, and left me only a small amt. The kale and swiss chard did not grow as well as I hoped! hope next yr will be better. I am going to look out for the reseedlings since I left the garden alone for the winder. Maybe I will see some of those precious plants trying to reseed themselves.
thanks for your recipe for steaming, I will try it. I like to put chard in most everything!

By: moonwatcher

moonwatcher — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 02:26:31 +0000

You are so very welcome, stephanie! It was my pleasure. I had fun writing it. I hope you enjoy your steaming experience!

By: stephanie

stephanie — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 02:12:26 +0000

Thank you so much for this post! I make my chard (and other garden greens) in tons of ways and usually just substitute it for spinach (for some reason I always eat my spinach raw…), but I almost never steam them. What a wonderful idea! I appreciate you posting this sooooo much! I will definitely be steaming some chard and brussels sprouts leaves now!

By: moonwatcher

moonwatcher — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 00:01:10 +0000

Hi kelly! I know what you mean, those little bugs can be discouraging. (I read somewhere that planting dikon radish with kale discourages flea beetles. I couldn’t find seed for that so I did regular radish and it seemed to work, too. Or maybe it was cold enough during the winter to kill them off. It’s always an experiment!) The thing I love about gardening is every season is different. There’s always surprises. Maybe you won’t have bugs on your kale this year. And maybe this year will be the year you grow chard! I love it when the seed catalogs start to arrive.

By: kelly

kelly — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 23:41:27 +0000

You have convinced me to give growing chard a try. I have grown kale for the past three years, but last year it did not do well! Lots of bugs. I miss going out nearly everyday for fresh kale leaves! The seed catalogs have just started to arrive….