How to Swiss Chard Plants
Swiss Chard is probably the most under appreciated of all vegetables. It
is vitamin rich and nutritious, and is extremely easy to grow. A prolific
grower, Swiss Chard tolerates poor soil, inattention, and withstands frost
and mild freezes. Swiss chard tastes good and you can eat both the stalk
and the leaves. The leaves can be used as a fresh salad or cooked like spinach.
The stalks are cut up and cooked in a variety of dishes.
What more can you ask for in a garden vegetable?
Did you Know? Swiss Chard is a member of the beet family. It just
doesn't have a bulb.
Varieties:
Tip: Buy a packet of the red and the white stalked types. Mix them
together in your garden for an eye-appealing display. Then, mix the two stalks
in your recipes to add color. The seed lasts a couple of years if kept in
a cool and dry place. So if two packets is too much, keep some until next
year!
Sowing Swiss Chard Seeds:
Plant Swiss Chard as soon as the soil can be worked. It will sprout fairly
early, and will not be harmed by spring frosts. One planting will last the
entire year. So, plan a permanent place for it.
Tip: For an even earlier crop, start a few seedling indoors. Transplant
them outdoors when the night temperatures go down to a minimum of 28 - 30
degrees. Even if you plant a little too early, they can be covered up during
unusually cold weather.
Outdoors, sow seeds 1/2 to 1 inch apart, in rows three feet apart. Thin seedlings
to two to three inches apart. Swiss chard is quite tolerant to crowding,
so don't worry if they appear too close. If you are just growing it for your
home garden, a four to six foot row is more than enough for a whole family.
Days to Maturity:
Swiss Chard can be picked as soon as the leaves are large enough to harvest,
usually in four to six weeks.
How to Grow Swiss Chard:
In selecting the location, you can plant Swiss Chard in the shadier parts
of your garden, and where the soil is the poorest. While this plant is very
forgiving, like any plant this prolific grower will respond to compost, manures
and fertilizers.
To minimize the bitter mid-summer taste, make sure the plants get plenty
of water. When you water the rest of the garden, don't forget the chard.
Let the outer leaves grow as big as you want. If you can't eat it as fast
as it is producing, cut and discard leaves as they begin to wilt, turn brown
or be damaged by insects. If the patch gets out of hand, do major surgery
on the leaves. The inner leaves will take their place quickly.
Insects and Pests:
Insect infestations are fairly uncommon. Occasional chewing and sucking pests
will affect them, most notably aphids. Most infestations occur in mid-summer
when the leaves take on a slightly bitter taste. For home gardeners, we do
not recommend sprays. Discard any affected leaves. In our home garden, if
an infestation occurs in the mid summer, we turn to another leaf vegetable,
as Swiss Chard at this time of year is a little too bitter for our taste
anyway. Keep removing infested leaves.
Deer eat Swiss Chard. This is most common in the fall when other food sources
are gone.
Disease:
Swiss Chard is resistant to most plant diseases. One planting will almost
always last the season.
Harvesting:
You can harvest the leaves regardless of size. Pick the outer leaves and
the new inner leaves will soon grow in their place. If the leaves turn a
little too bitter for you in mid-summer, make sure to come back to them as
the weather cools. The inner leaves are most tender and tasty, and are slightly
blanched. Cut the stems near the base, even if you are not going to use them.
be careful not to cut the stems of the inner leaves.
Rinse thoroughly and check the underside of the leaves for insects.
Hardiness:
Here's the best thing about Swiss Chard. As the weather cools, the leaves
are their tastiest. Swiss Chard tolerates frost and freezes into the upper
twenties. Even if a freeze kills off the outer leaves, the inner leaves may
be protected. Cut away any frost damaged leaves. You still have chard to
pick.
Even in Northern U.S., Swiss Chard is being picked at Thanksgiving. Many
gardeners pick Swiss Chard as late as Christmas!
Tip: A cold frame usually ensures fresh chard well into December when
lettuce prices are sky-rocketing.
More Information:
Buy Vegetable Seeds Finest quality Ferry Morse Seed,
America's oldest seed company with their famous "guarantee to grow".
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