Well, here we go - Winter Wednesday.
Before I even start, may I say that sharing what I enjoy about winter was not my idea... I don't enjoy winter. I live in Queensland for a reason, if I loved winter, well Tasmania is reputed to be really quite spectacular.
But Hazel and Veggiegobbler are all enthusiastic about it, and they support my blatherings on, so here I am supporting their mad winter-loving attitudes.
Mind you, living in Victoria, as they both do, I'm pretty sure it's find something to appreciate about winter, or complain for several months.
So for this Winter Wednesday - I bring you colour.
This is some lovely, lovely rainbow silverbeet that I put in a while ago. Isn't the beetroot red colour just spectacular? Unfortunately it was an overcast day, I was really hoping for some sunlight to really set the colours off, but alas, it was just not to be.
It's not really doing as well as I think it should be, but it's the first time I've grown it so I'm quite the proud grower regardless.
No idea when to pick it, or actually what parts to eat - can I just cut off a few leaves at a time, or is it a pull up pant?
Oops, plant.
Hey, how serious is this post? All about the veg, no blathering.
It must be Hazel's mature influence.
14 comments:
Mature? Wow! that's not a word people usually use in the same sentence as my name...well not in the seriously mature and sensible meaning...more in the mature, over ripe, on the verge of rotten meaning...maybe. But I am taking it as a compliment.
Hey, your rainbow spinach looks tonnes better than my tiny flimsy stems....I had to just about chop them back to nothing last night to get one meal..........so yours look fabulous....
I am not enjoying Winter either....I am cold, just darn cold.... :(
Looking mighty yummy, Ali. Still gorgeous photos even with the overcast sky. You can´t keep a good photographer down!
I will not be discussing winter. I am originally from Perth.
nuff said!
Ali that Rainbow Swiss Chard looks *good enough to eat* straight off the screen! :-)
You can pick it at any stage: if you want colourful salad leaves, pick it tiny; steamed Silverbeet - overall length about 20-30cm. Now remember - (another of coolowl's gardening maxims) - the stems are the best part! They need a little bit more cooking than the leaves, they are cooked when they seem translucent and they will be as tender as ... the leaves are nice too but cook down to almost nothing, melt-in-the-mouth stuff. You'd think I liked Silverbeet! :-)
You can make Spanakopita with it too if you've a mind for a fiddle.
When you harvest Silverbeet/Chard just use your fingers to break the stems off close to the ground. Put your thumb on the inside of the stem near where it joins the crown and twist the stem off the crown using your fingers around the stem with the thumb inside.
And like any leaf crop or indeed beans or cukes ... the more you pick the more you get until the plant decides it's time to call it a day. Silverbeet should last through the cold period and start to get stressed about September. So far it has not set seed for me here in Briz, I think it needs colder weather to do that.
Oh Elaine that is great! I will start picking away in a few weeks, they are smaller than they look in the photos. I think I'll have to put quite a few more in - I love my stir fried greens and I think silverbeet is going to be a winner!
Daffodil - I am with you. Even though I am discussing it.
Suzanne, I left my fan heater at work - the one I keep right next to my bed for when I am getting in and out. My house is FREEZING!!
Hazel - compliment. You are nowhere near rotting :) Blooming in my opinion!
Hi Ali! I adore my rainbow chard. I cut off leaves and stalks as I need them, I drop them into soup, add them to stirfy, do anything with them really! Oh and chooks LOVE the stuff...
Well it doesn't look pants to me! :0)
Ali I'm afraid I was trying very hard last week to be positive about winter but I was pretending. Only because I'd been ticked off by that embrace-all-seasons, winter-loving Hazel. I actually hate winter. And it was so cold today I put a countdown to spring counter on my blog. And I couldn't think of anything nice to say about winter today so I didn't do a winter Wednesday post. But I know that Hazel is busy with her visitors so she might not notice. Don't go telling!
Elaine's covered everything with the silverbeet. I love it. So easy to grow, pick when you want, grows in all seasons. I use it as I would spinach.
How odd that Silverbeet can be red... We call it Swiss Chard. Use the leaves like spinach, and the stems like asparagus I say. Try the stems braised in a cheesy white sauce.
I love the new header of your blog, Ali. Great pictures conveying just the right impression - i.e colourful and bountiful harvests!
I'm pleased to find my rainbow chard is beginning to grow.
Esther
Oh thank you Mark, I realised that the guava and other things I had up in the previous header were spring/summer produce and that it didn't really reflect winter here. Presumably figs and bananas are also not winter produce, but try telling them that!
Hopefully next year's winter header will include corn :)
Now the silverbeet is not only red, I have yellow and pink stemmed ones too, but the photos were no good so I didn't post them. You can see a yellow one in the background of the last photo though...
Veggiegobbler, at least it's not really cold cold in either of our places, and we are not real farmers... can you imagine slugging your way through snow only to have to strip down and help a ewe birth her lamb? I love James Herriot books, but I wouldn't last a minute!
Esther - that's fabulous... I hope yours does better than mine, next year I will make sure to put mine in better soil.
Mrs Bok - the chickens are not getting any!
LBM, slip of the tounge... or finger on the keypad I should say :D
With most green leafies I just pick as required at any stage. Baby leaves I find to be the best. However don't do what my kids did to my peppermint plant. I said they could use a few leaves to make them selves tea when ever they want to. Need I say more.
Hi Ali,
I've been catching up on your blog over the last few weeks and loving it. Very jealous of what you can plant in winter up your way. I have regular silverbeet growing in my small garden - would LOVE to try the rainbow ones next year, will have to look out for them - and made a really beautiful silverbeet and feta pie the other night. I must say though, I prefer it without the stems when they are bigger.
Also, I'm a total James Herriot fan, I have the whole collection permanently sitting on my bedside table so I can read a story or two whenever I can't sleep.
Looking forward to reading about your next gardening adventure.
Gorgeous photos! It's a bit weird reading about winter when I managed to get over cooked gardening in the sun this week (in London, UK). I love Swiss Chard. I cut up the stems and fry them with onions until they're soft in a little butter. Then sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top. A yummy winter treat. Enjoyed the blog.V.best Naomi
Post a Comment
comment here!