Pickled Swiss Chard Stems

This week i have been pickling Swiss Chard stems, Swiss Chard White Silver to be exact. This is the first time I've tried this and i don't yet know what they will be like but I'm looking forward to trying them in a few weeks time. I'm hopeful that they will be as yummy as the pickled celery i did last year. 

I researched online a few different ways to pickle chard stems and I'm going to try each different method that i liked the sound of and compare which we like the best. 

This first method used a boiled pickling solution. 

Firstly I chopped up the stalks of Swiss Chard (White Silver) and popped them into freshly cleaned (with boiling water) jars. 

I then added: 

150ml water 

150ml white vinegar 

Thyme (pinch of) 
Rosemary (pinch of)
whole pepper corns (a few sprinkled in) 
tsp salt

tsp sugar 

into a saucepan and brought it to a rolling boil. 

Once boiled i turned off the hob and after a few moments poured the hot liquid into the jars leaving a small gap at the top, i used a knife to check for air bubbles and then sealed the jars shut with the cleaned lids. A seal was obviously formed as when testing the jar lid there was no give. I popped the jars into my cupboard and will go back to them in a couple of weeks. 

According to my research they should now last for 6 months+ (as this is my first year i've no experience yet) Once opened though they must be stored in the fridge and used within 7 days but left sealed they will last for a long time (apparently) 

 

I'm looking forward to trying these soon, we love picked veg in this house so I'm hopeful this will be another favourite with Swiss Chard being a perennial that grows so well without needing much attention. 

The jars I used for this can be found here. 

The seeds i used to grow this Swiss Chard White Silver can be found here.