Lucky piggies!

i have done this with a few other greens, not chard yet but it bet it would be a fine substitute:

Chop chard finely, toss with garlic, minced onion or shallot, grated ginger. Moisten with soy sauce, add a drop or two of sesame oil, and roll up in menlo/eggroll/lumpia wrappers. Deep fry until golden brown. Serve with Sweet Thai Chili Sauce.

i still have to figure out how to freeze these for later frying!

wow, that recipe sounds YUMMY...

I have chard too and it's 2 years old and is now going to seed. I really didn't know what type of plant it was, but it appears to be biennial? Is this true?

I was not prepared for it to go away and did not plant seedlings to grow this year. I guess I better get some more going soon.

I dont have guinea's but my friend feeds all her extra greens (everything) to her chickens and they go banana's over it. she will even feed them pulled up grass.

A chard surplus is a great time to fill the freezer with yummy greens. Just blanch, plunge into ice water to stop the cooking, and stuff a suitable meal portion into a freezer bag.

Since the blanched greens (you can freeze any green this way), pack down they don't take up a lot of space.

I just ate the last of the collards I froze this winter.

I'm growing chard for the first time this year too and didn't know what I was going to do with it either :)

I don't have piggies now but have in the past. It is so much fun because of the variety of food they eat. Mine especially loved dandelions, clover, italian parsley, wheat grass, celery, carrot peels, blueberries, and watermelon. I even ordered "fancy" dandelion seeds online to grow with other greens inside in the winter for them.

I say freeze it too if you can't eat it all. It is very good when you don't have any and your growing season is not that long Cassie so start blancing putting it in freezer bags...

"Any Recipes?!?!?!?!-cassie"

My favorite way to eat chard is also really simple. If the leaves are large, I cut the ribs out and chop them like celery. If they leaves are smaller, you can leave the ribs and leaves together. Anyway, throw the ribs in a saute pan with minced garlic and some olive oil, cook a few minutes, then toss in the greens. Add salt and a good vinegar, then cover the pan and reduce the heat (if you have a smooth top range you can just turn off the burner and let the pan sit for a few minutes) until the greens are nicely wilted. Since chard can be sort of bitter, the acid of the vinegar plus the salt balances the flavor nicely, and this whole dish can be done in about 10 minutes, so it's great for a quick meal.

How do you prevent the chard getting freezer burn?

To prevent freezer burn on your greens, pack them still rather wet from the blanching so that they end up in a protective layer of ice, use good quality freezer bags rather than the thinner food storage bags, and squeeze all the air out.

I do that last by putting the greens in as a flat layer then rolling the bag with its greens up tightly from the bottom.

When you're ready to use them the ice will provide all the water necessary to microwave them or you can thaw and drain them to saute or stir-fry them.

I had piggies I bought spinach, chard, dandelion greens for all year round. One old pig made to twice the normal lifespan. I still notice nice clumps of dandelions or alfalfa when I'm driving. Still want to stop and harvest for the pig that wouldn't die.

Those vacuum seal thingies from walmart work great. I have homegrown meat and veggies in my freezer that are a year old and still look as good as new.

No guinea pigs here but chard I just steam, salt and eat. I think it's great just like that.

I haven't grown any of my own yet, but planted some and am anxiously awaiting the sprouting.

Ania

Chard tart is very delicious and easy to make with a store bought pie shell. Below is a link to a recipe. You can vary the recipe if you keep the essential ingredients, the crust, the chard, the eggs.

Jim

Here is a link that might be useful: Sharnas Chard Tart

That tart recipe looks great. i think it would be yummy with zucchini too lol

When Swiss Chard is abundant, try this delicious (and easy) recipe.

Swiss Chard + Ricotta = Delicious

Swiss Chard Lasagna.

Yayyyy! Cavies!

I only have one left, and I don't grow chard, but I get it in My CSA box. I MAY have given my piggie some stems, but I'm not 100 percent sure chard is okay. Why am I wondering if calcium might be a problem? She does get my parsley stems, and snap pea vines though, and carrot tops, lettuce, collards and kale.

Not unlike beet greens, which may be high in oxalic acid, but apparently fine!

I remember hearing somethign about too much calcium beign bad for them....Hmm....Im going to have to research this. It will suck if they cant eat alot of it, because as i said I have a TON of it LOL! Ill do some checking in to it! -cass