How to preserve chard

Julie Rawson, farmer and co-owner of Many Hands Organic Farm in Barre, MA, walks us through the process of preserving excess chard from the garden
Learn more about Many Hands Organic Farm and sign up for a CSA vegetable share at mhof.net

[@lolaschulse6306]

Thank you for the video - very helpful. I love your stove!

[@julierawson1586]

I do too!

[@biffybilliamson]

Have you ever used the blanched water for vegetable stock?

[@barbschellenberger6743]

Do you know why we blanche collards (ie Swiss chard, spinach, etc.)? If we don’t blanche, how does that effect the frozen collards?

[@julierawson1586]

My understanding is that we need to stop the enzyme activity in the vegetables, and that if we don't do that, the enzymes will cause the vegetables to further break down and make them tasteless, or at least degrade the quality. And there is a lot of information on this on the internet. I blanche things until they first turn color in the water, but before they turn color again. When they brighten up in the water, that is when I remove them, rinse them in cold water, pack and freeze.

[@barbschellenberger6743]

@@julierawson1586 Thank you for the info. Enjoy your day.

[@julierawson1586]

No, but you could