Swiss Chard :-(

The summer-flower has run to seed,
And yellow is the woodland bough;
And every leaf of bush and weed
Is tipt with autumn’s pencil now.

And I do love the varied hue,
And I do love the browning plain;
And I do love each scene to view,
That’s mark’d with beauties of her reign.

From "Autumn" by John Clare, 1821

I'm so blessed to be able to have the time now to stop and take a look around, to see the changes in season without having a time table or a list of things I have to do, to rush around and "get things done."  I plan to enjoy it!

Yesterday we decided to give our fall crop of Five Color Silverbeet Swiss Chard.  It is absolutely beautiful!! The plants are truly gorgeous. I can't say I've ever had chard.  Have you? I could say it actually glows in the sunlight - the HOT pink stalks and the orange stalks are such an unbelievable color when the sun hits it!  So, it has to be good, right?

I followed a recipe I found online, there are many ways to fix this stuff.  This one is sauteed with some onion, garlic, and after it's wilted some added dried cranberries and nuts.  The recipe called for pine nuts, but I substituted almonds since I didn't have pine nuts.

Okay, it wasn't ... horrible.  I'm not a fan of "greens" like collard greens, and this faintly reminded me of that taste.  I was hoping for a mild taste like spinach, and it wasn't that. It wasn't as bitter as collards, in fact it was a mild taste, but definitely a "greens" taste.  But, for me it wasn't great.  John, on the other hand, LOVED it.  So, I'll try it again in a few weeks in a different recipe, so we'll see.  This plant is supposed to be good for winter and withstands some frost, etc. so I'll leave it in the garden until we use it.