Fri 2 Jan 2009
Few vegetables can match Swiss chard for ease of growth and heavy, extended production of delicious, crinkly green leaves and wide, crisp stems. Six to eight plants can feed a family for several months because new center leaves continually replace the large outer leaves as they are harvested.
A member of the beet family, chard can be harvested 60 days following spring planting or 45 days after summer planting. Plants withstand summer heat in most areas, yet will mature by midsummer where summers are cool.
How to plant
Grow chard from seeds sown outdoors as soon as the soil can be worked in the spring. In mildwinter areas, chard can be planted any time of the year, but fall plantings shoot to seed the following spring. Plant seeds ‘/z inch deep and 1 inch apart. Thin plants to 8 to 12 inches apart; eat the excess plants. Chard seeds are well adapted to band planting or broadcasting. Care. Feed chard every two to three weeks and water frequently. The plants may wilt slightly on hot days but will recover quickly if the soil around them is soaked.
Harvesting
Harvest the outer leaves as needed and before the stems get stringy. Break or cut them off at the base. Replacement leaves will grow from the center. Always leave a few center leaves so the plants can manufacture sugars to sustain themselves.
In containers
No other vegetable can match chard for sustained heavy yield from a small space. Use containers with a soil depth of 12-24 inches. If you remove the outer leaves to use, the plant will continue to grow.
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