Sow what do we have here?

This is a bit of a quiz really, have a look at this photo and guess what it is? It's a bit of a Rolf Harris question really - 'Do you know what it is yet?'

If you are thinking peppermint rock, think again. There's a clue in the title of this post, if that helps. So for those of you who thought I had forgotten how to spell, the answer is 'No', I have just dug up a rather bad sense of humour from somewhere. Here is another photo that may help you.

Any closer? 'Do you know what it is yet?' If you are thinking vegetable, then you are getting closer. These are photos of the stems of Swiss Chard, in this case a variety called 'Bright Lights', and this is not a reference to 'Gremlins', sorry my brain is doing very odd things today.

So what do the plants look like when still in the ground? Well you will have already seen this in an earlier post, but here it is again.

Did any of you get it right?

And if you are wondering what you use Swiss Chard for, other than just eating, the answer is that you can eat young leaves raw in salads, mature leaves can be cooked like spinach, but better, and the stems either be braised, or used in soup.