April

Cheers for chard!!

Kirsten

22 May 2026 • 3 min read

Various bits of freshly harvested chard and the beginning of some kimchi

Chard is currently one of my most favourite 'edimental' plants, and although some allotments would claim that it takes up space and does not much more than looking pretty I would argue that it is of great value. I have some on my plot right now that has over wintered well and I have three varieties growing in my greenhouse which will likely go onto the plot in may. The small plants may be harvested initially for salads, while the established plants will be used in stirfrys. The leaves I treat much like spinach and the stems like the fleshy bits of boc choi.

On a recent trip I harvested a whole 'bag for life' of chard and beet-leaf. I planned an old favourite pasta dish, and I was hoping to experiment with some kimchi. Neither disappointed.

I found a lovely looking kimchi recipe on GIRL meets DIRT, it called for a whole pound of chard (which I had and more) and ingredients that I could get from the supermarket. The only thing I swapped out was the gochugaru chilli, I used a gochuchang paste instead.

Ingredients list from https://www.girlmeetsdirt.com - visit for the full recipe

I packed the freshly seasoned veg into jars, initially while the texture was still quite solid I split the mixture across two jars. These were big jars from Lidl that used to hold roasted red peppers or big gherkins. There was a bit of room left at the top of the jars. To fill this space I put a sandwich bag into the jar and added water to fill the space and weigh down the plastic layer. I secured the lid over the bag. I found this method somewhere on the internet. It was ok, but I am not sure I will do it again.

Two jars in the cupboard ready to ferment.

After a couple of days the kimchi all fits in a single big jar - not Lon after this it was transferred from room temperature to the fridge.

My next recipe was loosely based on this delicious nigella offering, Spaghetti with chard, chilli and anchovies, I say loosely because I just throw something similar together now, it always has chard and anchovies, but there isn't always chilli, and the pasta is often linguini.

The beautiful pink chard is the 'Peppermint' variety which I got from She Grows Veg, the peppermint name links to it's candy cane appearance rather than any flavour. It is a firm favourite on the plot and in the kitchen.

A bowlfull of allotment greens (and pinks and reds)

Mood: Funky - in a good way like kimchi, Full in a good way like I have eaten lots of healthy stuffs!