Spinach

[ducks4you]

The Best spinach crop I have ever had was one I grew in 2011 and we had no Real winter, so in March I was still harvesting spinach. Trying to start some now in an old (leaky) fish tank on the east facing front porch. It is dried out and I have had to replant already, probably need to replant yet again, but I am determined. LOVE spinach. Does anybody know--can you freeze it?
Don't care for Swiss Chard much, except the Brights Lights makes a nice filler/bedding/companion for other vegetables plant. Kinda think the "tastes like spinach" is just like "tastes like chicken" when you taste rattlesnake, or rabbit, or other exotic meats.

 

[Beekissed]

Bee ... are those worthless boggy areas spring fed yer round ? If so, and since you like projects too, you can deepen to 2+ feet deep add some boulders , gravel and sandy areas and wa la you have a great habitat to raise high value foods such as crawdads and / or catfish or even ducks for animal protein . You can turn a worthless bog into a cash cow for very little in cash outlay that is sustainable.

Not so lucky, Bob! I wish! No, these are the when it rains it holds water and extraordinarily long time kind of places while everywhere else in the garden has drained off rather well. Most likely needs built up or ditched off but won't get it because they aren't very large but do render some areas of the garden less useful.

 

[flowerbug]

oh my! cherries that nobody will pick!? i love fresh fruit and can't imagine letting that go to waste.

as for the low spots. celery should be ok in the more moist places, but not likely right at the bottom, but i'm suspecting something else going on there like not enough light.

i think on every property if you can find places to capture any water and soak it in that is well worth doing to keep the runoff out of streams. not all wetlands should be drained. froggies/toads/etc need places to be too.

have you ever tried salsify?

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

The Best spinach crop I have ever had was one I grew in 2011 and we had no Real winter, so in March I was still harvesting spinach. Trying to start some now in an old (leaky) fish tank on the east facing front porch. It is dried out and I have had to replant already, probably need to replant yet again, but I am determined. LOVE spinach. Does anybody know--can you freeze it?
Don't care for Swiss Chard much, except the Brights Lights makes a nice filler/bedding/companion for other vegetables plant. Kinda think the "tastes like spinach" is just like "tastes like chicken" when you taste rattlesnake, or rabbit, or other exotic meats.

I steam it and freeze it. I just went out today and I have some Swiss chard. The snow melted in the box and so I weeded it and trimmed all the dead leaves off and covered the area with plastic. I will get some chard from this.

 

[flowerbug]

... LOVE spinach. Does anybody know--can you freeze it?

blanched and frozen but it is going to come out mushy no matter what. at that point i'd just pressure can it instead and save the freezer space if i had that much of it to make it worth it. to me the big point of any green is that they're fresh - yet i am one of those people who can open a can of spinach and eat it right from the can but i haven't done that in 10-15yrs.

i just can't get Mom to eat chard of any kind. i like it once in a while and used to grow some until my seed supply ran out. once in a while i could get some of the plants to survive the winter (which i found to be surprising).

 

[digitS']

Chicken keepers, would freezing spinach with scrambled eggs make any sense? I was just thinking yesterday that I'd really like to make a quiche but DW must make the pie crust ... ya know, there is some vodka around here someplace ... maybe I could try crust-making again with that elective ingredient.

Chard? Does your mom like beet greens, @flowerbug ? I even tried white beets so that DW wouldn't complain about red juice (white turned out to be not to my liking). Thin-stemmed chard seems to be a go!

Celeriac was easier for me to grow than celery, @Beekissed . However, I'm really taxing it's tolerance for conditions growing it in the rocky soil it has had the last few seasons. Roots and leaves are useful, stems .. not so much

Do I know anything about rainwater ponding? Not really. There was a leaky irrigation valve near the garden, once. I channeled water into a little pond and grew watercress. Hey. It worked! Except, I think that I embarrassed the neighbor and he replaced the valve ...

Steve

 

[Ridgerunner]

I never had any luck at all growing spinach in Arkansas, I'm not even going to try it here. I tried several times. Out of a 20' row I might get one serving if I was lucky. Chard, kale, lettuce, beet greens, and turnip greens were all much better use for the garden space and my time.

I find that freezing any greens are going to give you mushy greens by the time you blanch and then cook them. I'd still freeze chard, kale, and occasionally beet greens so I could have some greens in winter.

I've never tried freezing scrambled eggs Steve, but it sounds like it could work. But when I make soup I usually include some greens. I can soup so they are cooked to death but I still find them a nice addition to soup.

I tried celeriac once in Arkansas. The roots all turned black inside, I may have waited too long to try to harvest them. But I dehydrated the leaves and stems and made a powder by putting them through a food processor or blender. That powder made a good celery substitute for soup and broth. My one attempt to grow celery was also less than spectacular.

 

[flowerbug]

...
Chard? Does your mom like beet greens, @flowerbug ? ...

no, we like beets once in a while, but she won't eat the greens at all. Mom is picky. i would sit in the garden and eat the thinnings as i went through the beets and eat some of the small beets right there too if they were getting too crowded. i'm almost a complete ominvore - there's very little i won't try.

 

[ducks4you]

Chicken keepers, would freezing spinach with scrambled eggs make any sense? I was just thinking yesterday that I'd really like to make a quiche but DW must make the pie crust ... ya know, there is some vodka around here someplace ... maybe I could try crust-making again with that elective ingredient.

Chard? Does your mom like beet greens, @flowerbug ? I even tried white beets so that DW wouldn't complain about red juice (white turned out to be not to my liking). Thin-stemmed chard seems to be a go!

Celeriac was easier for me to grow than celery, @Beekissed . However, I'm really taxing it's tolerance for conditions growing it in the rocky soil it has had the last few seasons. Roots and leaves are useful, stems .. not so much

Do I know anything about rainwater ponding? Not really. There was a leaky irrigation valve near the garden, once. I channeled water into a little pond and grew watercress. Hey. It worked! Except, I think that I embarrassed the neighbor and he replaced the valve ...

Steve

Vodka...in a pie crust...is that a challenge?!?

 

[digitS']

@ducks4you ,

"And, of course, there’s always vodka as an option."

link (Scientific American)

Steve