silverbeet

All posts tagged silverbeet

Popeye all year round

Posted by gardenpathfood on April 10, 2013
Posted in: Autumn foods, Eating Seasons, Health, Links to other sites, Spring foods, Spring Jobs, Summer foods, The plants in my garden, Work Season. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

I got a bit excited on the weekend when I went to the Hervey Bay markets and found a summer spinach. Spinach is such a useful vegetable but with the very hot summers out here, it didn’t make it past November very successfully. Still, I’d had about 6 months out of it.

Otherwise known as Ceylon Spinach or Malabar Greens, this summer growing spinach like plant (Basella alba) grows best on a small IMG_0019trellis and dies off in winter but is apparently very good at setting seed. Since, I love to find babies in the garden, this plant would suit me well, I thought.

It seemed like the perfect solution, English Spinach, kale and silverbeet in the winter and Malabar Greens in the summer but on a second look and some discussion with the lady who sold the plant to me, we decided it would frost.  It is a tropical plant after all.  I almost put it back and then thought ‘well, it’s going to die back in winter anyway so let’s find the best spot possible in the garden for it, make sure it has a seed bed and watch what happens. ‘ I do have a back up plan though- I planted one at the house in Hervey Bay as well where the winters are much less harsh and the springs and early summer are more humid.  So watch this space…….. and while you are waiting you could also check out these two information sites.

Suzi you will love this one but she does warn you not to use it in your smoothies!!!

http://www.thewellnesswarrior.com.au/2012/02/a-tasty-herb-to-improve-your-digestive-health/

http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s2660517.htm

Vale Kale

Posted by gardenpathfood on December 12, 2012
Posted in: Autumn jobs, Eating Seasons, Food, Health, Links to other sites, Spring foods, The plants in my garden, Winter Foods, Work Season. Tagged: , , , , , . 1 Comment

I have had kale in the garden, the first time I’ve grown it but I will definitely be putting more in. I had it planted near the silverbeet and often picked them and steamed them together, putting just a little bit of lemon juice on top before they were served.IMG_0386

Apart from the fact that they both have an incredibly long season and so are a very useful and hassle free vegetable, they look so wonderful in the garden among the other plants.

The kale is the silver plant on the right with young silverbeet to it’s left.

But now the kale is looking a bit worse for wear and it is not just because the bugs are eating it. We have had an incredibly hot couple of weeks and kale gets bitter under hot conditions so for the moment, until I replant in February, it is vale kale.

I will leave you with this message:

Kale is one of the healthiest vegetables  http://www.whfoods.com/

  • Kale can provide you with some special cholesterol-lowering benefits if you will cook it by steaming. The fiber-related components in kale do a better job of binding together with bile acids in your digestive tract when they’ve been steamed. When this binding process takes place, it’s easier for bile acids to be excreted, and the result is a lowering of your cholesterol levels. Raw kale still has cholesterol-lowering ability—just not as much.
  • Kale’s risk-lowering benefits for cancer have recently been extended to at least five different types of cancer. These types include cancer of the bladder, breast, colon, ovary, and prostate. Isothiocyanates (ITCs) made from glucosinolates in kale play a primary role in achieving these risk-lowering benefits.

Wholefoods in October

Posted by gardenpathfood on October 7, 2012
Posted in: Eating Seasons, Food, Recipes, Spring foods, The plants in my garden. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Today’s Haul

This was the basis for our dinner tonight.  All of these things are most definitely in season at home at the moment.  As my husbands says ‘Something that cooks up as dark and fresh looking as the silverbeet, has to be good for you.’

I usually add a tiny bit of fresh lemon juice to the kale and silverbeet after cooking since I like the tang that it adds.

This lovely fresh asparagus requires nothing of course and can be eaten raw in salads or very lightly steamed with the other greens.

We usually eat the leeks lightly steamed but I know a lot of people only eat them in casseroles.  We love them just as they are as a vegetable in their own right.

What do you do with leeks?