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Peppermint Stick Chard

August 5th, 2014

This spring a packet of ‘Peppermint Stick’ Chard arrived with my seeds from Renee’s Garden.  I didn’t think much about it, I just seeded them a flat along with everything else this spring.  They were transplanted in the garden at the appropriate time and I completely forgot about them.  Chard is one of those vegetables that gets forgotten with all the succulent lettuces and spinaches on the market.  Yet it’s a perfect vegetable, able to withstand very severe cold and still produce bountiful leaves when the days heat up as well.
peppermint stick chard (1)Not only is this variety a hardy vegetable to grow, it’s a showstopper as well. Look at those variegated pink and white stalks. They practically glow when you catch them out of the corner of your eye. Chard isn’t one of those vegetable that I grow a ton of, but there are always a few stands growing in a corner of the garden. This variety is quite lovely and is one I will keep growing year after year, even if it never graces my plate.

What is a vegetable you’d grow for beauty even if it didn’t produce fruit you liked?

4 Comments to “Peppermint Stick Chard”
  1. Allison on August 5, 2014 at 5:20 am

    “What is a vegetable you’d grow for beauty even if it didn’t produce fruit you liked?”

    Okra – Absolutely will not eat it but the flowers are lovely.

    Reply to Allison's comment

  2. Nebraska Dave on August 5, 2014 at 5:28 am

    Susy, I’m just beginning to see the value in growing vegetables for beauty. I’ve just not thought of that before. One of the things that I have wanted to do was to plant dill in the garden. Not so much for the beauty but the smell reminds me of all those decades ago when I helped Mom in the garden. The one thing I remember is the smell of Dill in the garden. There’s been so many different things I’ve learned about gardening the last three years. Your blog has been an inspiration to bust me out of the traditional gardening circle.

    Have a great garden beauty day.

    Reply to Nebraska Dave's comment

  3. Jennifer Fisk on August 5, 2014 at 8:19 am

    I picked and froze a huge bunch of rainbow chard yesterday. It is pretty in the garden with those big shiny green leave with multicolored center veins. I have to say, I find kale to be pretty and with the presumed shortage this year, it is even more beautiful.

    Reply to Jennifer Fisk's comment

  4. Sarah on August 5, 2014 at 9:49 am

    I love chard, we eat it for salad most of the winter and into the summer. The only thing hardier for summer heat around here is arugula and maybe mustard. The animals seem to like it too. If I can water consistently enough to get it established, it seems to grow on its own for months even when I forget about it.

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About

This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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