A few years ago, as often happens at the garden, I was chatting with a stranger. When I told her I had no use for Swiss chard and didn’t grow it, she was shocked. “It makes the very best cabbage rolls,” she told me. Turns out she was right.
Space is limited in an allotment. Growing chard means I don’t have to devote so much of the plot to cabbages. Five or six rainbow chard plants produce enough for multiple batches of rolls. They keep producing all summer and beyond since they’re cold hardy. Picking ten or twelve big leaves for a batch of chard-not-cabbage rolls throughout the season is more efficient than maturing, harvesting, and processing cabbages. Plus, there’s no need for succession planting.
Do you have a favourite cabbage roll recipe? You can easily convert it to chard rolls. Skip the hassle of blanching. Use fresh chard leaves instead of blanched cabbage leaves to form the rolls, then cook according to your recipe.
Delicious!
Dealing with Leaf Miner
There has been a lot of leaf miner damage on my beet and chard leaves this year, more than usual. Hand control is the best defense in a small garden. Regularly check the backs of the leaves looking for rows of tiny white eggs. If you find any, crush them between your fingers. Leaves with active leaf miner larvae should be picked into a plastic bag, frozen, and then put out with your garbage to break the insect life cycle. Since the eggs are laid by flies, floating row cover is a good way to prevent the eggs on your chard and beets.
At my house, the growing season’s first batch of Swiss chard rolls just went into the freezer. If you have chard in your garden, I hope you are intrigued enough to give this switch up a try. You may never look back!
Karen, you are amazing and I appreciate your generosity in sharing things you have learned. There is so much for us ‘outside the box’. Thanks for the openings you create. Blessings
What a great idea to save time and effort, Karen. Thanks for this neat suggestion. Since I only have a small balcony I can only grow a small amount of veggies, but I had my first meal of chard last week, and it was such a treat. Please keep the ideas coming.
Thank you for this great idea!