Need to identify these six greens

mileena · Mar 14, 2023

Hi, this forum helped me before in 2021! I hope you can help again.

I received six bags of fresh greens from a garden someone brought into a food pantry. I am having trouble identifying these. Here are the pics:

1. ??

2. Is this parsley?

3. Chives??

4. ??

5. Arugula?

6. ??

Thaks for any help!

larry_stewart · Mar 14, 2023

2 = definitely Dill
3 = Definitely Chives
5 = Maybe Kale
6 = Maybe some kind of Mustard Green

taxlady · Mar 14, 2023

I'm not going to be much help. I agree that Larry is probably right about the dill and chives, though my dill has looked a bit different than that - longer leaves and less branching. I think that is just variations though. But, the rest look like baby leaves to me.

bethzaring · Mar 14, 2023

4 is swiss chard

taxlady · Mar 14, 2023

bethzaring said:
4 is swiss chard

I think you are right, but those really are itty bitty leaves for chard.

mileena · Mar 14, 2023

larry_stewart said:
2 = definitely Dill
3 = Definitely Chives
5 = Maybe Kale
6 = Maybe some kind of Mustard Green

Awesome! I don't use dill, so this is good info. And 5 is kale. Good. I am used to the more crinkly kind of kale, but the leaves do look like the shape of kale after a second look.

taxlady said:
I'm not going to be much help. I agree that Larry is probably right about the dill and chives, though my dill has looked a bit different than that - longer leaves and less branching. I think that is just variations though. But, the rest look like baby leaves to me.

Thank you!

bethzaring said:
4 is swiss chard

I love cruciferous vegetables, but I rarely have eaten chard, so this is excellent to know!

taxlady said:
I think you are right, but those really are itty bitty leaves for chard.

Thank you again.

medtran49 · Mar 14, 2023

2 could be fennel fronds. They look very similar to dill.

If 5 is arugula, it is vastly overgrown and will be extremely bitter and peppery.

6 could also be very young collard greens.

larry_stewart · Mar 14, 2023

If 6 is mustard greens, you'll know just by tasting it. It will have a sharp, mustardy type of taste.

larry_stewart · Mar 14, 2023

#5 Arugula could look like that too. If its kale it will have a slight cabbagy taste to it, if its arugula, more spicy.

taxlady · Mar 14, 2023

mileena said:
<snip>

I love cruciferous vegetables, but I rarely have eaten chard, so this is excellent to know!

Thank you again.

Chard isn't a cruciferous vegetable. I tend to forget and to think of it that way, but it's actually related to beets. You can grow seeds that are cross between beets and chard. They will have chard leaves and a little bitty beet as part of the root.

larry_stewart · Mar 14, 2023

medtran49 said:
2 could be fennel fronds. They look very similar to dill.

They do look very similar, but easily identifiable, as the fennel will an anise/ licorice smell/ flavor.

mileena · Mar 14, 2023

taxlady said:
Chard isn't a cruciferous vegetable. I tend to forget and to think of it that way, but it's actually related to beets. You can grow seeds that are cross between beets and chard. They will have chard leaves and a little bitty beet as part of the root.

Thank you for the information. I am wondering though, because numerous sites say it is cruciferous:

https://columbiasurgery.org/news/2015/05/08/crunch-cruciferous-veggies

Cruciferous vegetables include broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, bok choy, collard greens, radishes, mustard greens, chard, rutabaga, turnips, watercress, arugula, and horseradish. "

https://www.eatingwell.com/article/7961626/what-is-swiss-chard/

"Also known as just plain chard, this cruciferous vegetable and member of the beet family shares traits with spinach and kale and has qualities that you would look for in a vegetable"

mileena · Mar 14, 2023

medtran49 said:
2 could be fennel fronds. They look very similar to dill.

If 5 is arugula, it is vastly overgrown and will be extremely bitter and peppery.

6 could also be very young collard greens.

larry_stewart said:
If 6 is mustard greens, you'll know just by tasting it. It will have a sharp, mustardy type of taste.

Ok, I went back and tasted this. Definitely tastes like mustard. Mustard greens it is!

mileena · Mar 14, 2023

larry_stewart said:
#5 Arugula could look like that too. If its kale it will have a slight cabbagy taste to it, if its arugula, more spicy.

I went back and tasted this too. More like a cabbagy taste. So kale it is I guess. Thank you. Now I know how to identify this.

mileena · Mar 14, 2023

medtran49 said:
2 could be fennel fronds. They look very similar to dill.

If 5 is arugula, it is vastly overgrown and will be extremely bitter and peppery.

6 could also be very young collard greens.

larry_stewart said:
They do look very similar, but easily identifiable, as the fennel will an anise/ licorice smell/ flavor.

I also tasted this. My palate is not that great, and I rarely eat either fennel or dill. It tasted a little spicy, maybe somewhat like anise, but I am not sure. It definitely wasn't a strong anise taste like I had in the candy form when I was a child in the 80's.

Cooking Goddess · Mar 15, 2023

Most everyone knew the ones I do, but I found this really great chart that is interesting.

Google Image Result for https://rebelrd.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Specialty-Greens.jpg

taxlady · Mar 15, 2023

mileena said:
Thank you for the information. I am wondering though, because numerous sites say it is cruciferous:

https://columbiasurgery.org/news/2015/05/08/crunch-cruciferous-veggies

Cruciferous vegetables include broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, bok choy, collard greens, radishes, mustard greens, chard, rutabaga, turnips, watercress, arugula, and horseradish. "

https://www.eatingwell.com/article/7961626/what-is-swiss-chard/

"Also known as just plain chard, this cruciferous vegetable and member of the beet family shares traits with spinach and kale and has qualities that you would look for in a vegetable"

Well, according to what Wikipedia and what I have read elsewhere, the brassicas (cruciferous veggies) are descended from mustard and chard and beets are descended from sea beets. All the cruciferous veggies are in the order brassicales and the beets and chard are in the order caryophyllales. But, chard does really seem like it should be in with the brassicas. Actually, I think chard seems more like a brassica than mustard does. But, there ya go.

Badjak · Mar 15, 2023

2 could also be coriander (cilantro) just before bolting
But anise taste makes it more likely to be fennel

pepperhead212 · Mar 15, 2023

taxlady said:
Well, according to what Wikipedia and what I have read elsewhere, the brassicas (cruciferous veggies) are descended from mustard and chard and beets are descended from sea beets. All the cruciferous veggies are in the order brassicales and the beets and chard are in the order caryophyllales. But, chard does really seem like it should be in with the brassicas. Actually, I think chard seems more like a brassica than mustard does. But, there ya go.

Actually, besides being in the same order as beets, it is the same species, but labeled a different "variety" - Beta vulgaris (don't remember the variety!). Surprisingly, the chard has non of that flavor the beets have, that I can't stand!

medtran49 · Mar 15, 2023

Chard and beets will cross breed so you have to be careful and widely separate them if you are growing both. You can also eat beet greens if they are in decent shape. I made a pasta dish that used golden beets and their greens not long ago.

Rainbow swiss chard makes a very pretty ornamental plant for your yard that is also edible. I planted a bunch around a red hibiscus tree and got compliments. I harvested the leaves as they got bigger so had a continually renewing source of color in the plant bed, plus greens for dinner.

Need to identify these six greens

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