Swiss Chard is probably the most under appreciated of all vegetables. It is vitamin rich and nutritious and one of the easiest of all vegetables to grow. A prolific grower with a long cropping season, it tolerates poor soil and inattention.

Chard is a cool weather vegetable and will withstand a mild frost. It also puts up with dry weather well, and will give you tasty spinach type leaves for up to 12 months from a single sowing. It is a good choice for the beginner or busy gardener.

Peppery red chard has crimson-stemmed green leaves, making a striking contrast in any salad. The thin-stemmed leaves can also be sautéed and braised. Anything you can do to spinach, you can do to red chard.

Worth growing for the colour alone, it can be used as an ornamental plant, growing to 40 to 50cm (16 to 20in) tall. The striking deep green leaves with glorious bright red veins are a beautiful addition to any garden.

Position:

You can grow Chard in most parts of the garden as long as it is not in deep shade but will give a better yield when in a sunny spot. They require a good draining soil but that's their only key requirement soil-wise. While this plant is very forgiving and will grow where the soil is the poorest, like any plant this prolific grower will respond to compost, manures and fertilisers.

One planting will almost always last the season, so plan a permanent place for it. Chard grows well in a soil of around 6.5 - 6.8 an acidic soil will stunt growth. It is resistant to most plant diseases.

Sowing:

Sow from early spring to avoid the final hard frosts.

Sowing Indoors:

Chard is normally sown directly into the soil, but for an early crop, a few seedlings can be started indoors. Transplant them outdoors when the night temperatures are at a min. of -2°C (28°F). It will sprout fairly early, and will not be harmed by spring frosts.

Sowing Direct:

Sow in Spring as soon as the soil can be worked. Sow the seed thinly 5cm (2in) apart at a depth of 1cm (½in). If growing more than one row, space the rows about 38 to 45cm (15 to 18in) apart. The seedlings will appear in about 15 days and should be watered for the first month or so if conditions are dry.

The plants will need thinning to about 15 to 25cm (6 to 10in) between plants. If left until around 15cm in height before thinning then the thinned plants can be treated like an early harvest and the young leaves will be extremely tender and tasty.

Cultivation:

Chard are hardy vegetables and will grow with little or no attention. Their main need is for weeding. This can be done by regular hoeing. An alternative is lay black plastic and let the plants grow through this. Black plastic is particularly useful for Swiss Chard because they stay in the ground for so long. To minimise the bitter mid-summer taste, make sure the plants get plenty of water.

Chard is sturdier than spinach and can cope better with water shortages, however you should still water regularly to ensure optimum growth and prevent bolting. Bolting leads to premature flower and seed production and will divert the plants energies away from leaf growth. If a flower stalk develops then clip it off to extend the harvest.

To extend harvesting past the first hard frost you can put the plants under a cloche or polytunnel to extend the growing season.

Harvesting: 25 days for baby leaf and 50 days to maturity for bunching.

Chard can be picked as soon as the leaves are large enough to harvest, usually in four to six weeks. The best leaves for salads are the younger leaves, about 8cm /3in long. Chard is a pick and come again crop use a knife rather than pulling off the leaves. For multiple harvests from the same plant simply pick the outer leaves and leave the inner younger leaves. Be sure not to damage the central terminal bud at the centre of the young growth. You can also if you wish harvest the whole plant.

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. If the patch gets out of hand, do major surgery on the leaves. The inner leaves will take their place quickly.

As the weather cools, the leaves are their tastiest, if they turn a little too bitter in mid-summer, make sure to come back to them later. Harvests until the first hard frost, many gardeners pick Chard as late as Christmas.

Culinary Use:

After picking the leaves simply wash and add to salads or wash and then quickly heat in a pan using only the water that clings to the leaves after washing. This will avoid overcooked soggy leaves. Chard does not store well so should either be eaten within a few hours of picking or stored in the salad box of the fridge for a maximum of 3 days.