PREMIER SEEDS DIRECT - Swiss Chard - Rainbow Mix - 75 Seeds - Organic

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Birds can tear the edges of chard leaves in search of moisture. Cover plants with netting if this has become a problem. Why do the leaves of my chard have white or brown blisters and blotches?

We all go crazy over spinach and kale, but when was the last time you cooked Swiss chard? This vibrant leafy green is one of my favorite vegetables to work with. It’s endlessly versatile – my go-to Swiss chard recipes range from smoky Mojo bowls to a lemony pasta – and its stems are just as edible as its dark green leaves. Because I think we could all be cooking it more often, I wanted to share a little Swiss chard 101 today. If you’ve never worked with chard before, I hope these tips and recipes will encourage you to try it. And if you’re already a Swiss chard pro, I hope a recipe here will inspire you to prepare it in a new way. There’s no limit to what Swiss chard can do! Fordhook Giant’ is also an heirloom variety that is renowned for its vigorous growth. It is also particularly hardy and the most frost-resistant, allowing the gardener to harvest leaves through winter so long as the ground is not frozen over. Its leaves are almost the colour of kale while its stems and petioles are creamy white. It is strongly flavoured and is great for cooked dishes. When & Where To Plant Then, place a humidity dome or clear plastic over the top of the container, covering the seeds, like a clear lid. Your goal is to create a miniature greenhouse effect to help keep the moisture levels steady until germination. Not very many Chard cultivars are commonly grown or available but from those that are we have selected half-a-dozen of the best.Sow thinly direct into finely raked, moist, warm soil at a depth of 13mm (½") in rows 30cm (12") apart. Germination 7-14 days. Thin as required to leave 23-30cm (9-12") between plants. Chard likes being moist, so make sure to water chard regularly. Always give it more water when the top layer of soil has dried out. With sufficient watering, the Swiss chard leaves and stems stay tender longer and taste better. Rhubarb Chard’ or ‘Ruby Chard’ is the cultivar that gives Swiss Chard its reputation for ornamental value. Though the leaves are tasty enough, this variety is probably one for decorative value: the scallopy, wavy leaves are a brilliant, deep shade of green while the petioles, midribs and even the veins are an equally vivid ruby red. It can also be sown under cover in the autumn to crop the following year. 1) Harvesting Chard Seeds The Chard-growing season will be more constrained in northern regions and in colder zones because you must plant seeds later in the season and you must make your final harvest before the first frost of the season.

Some of the more well-known ones are Silver Beet, Leaf Beet, Seakale Beet, Beet Spinach, Perpetual Spinach, and Ruby Chard. It has grown in Britain since at least 1596, when English botanist, John Gerard, recorded growing it in his famous Herball. Its name comes from the Latin word for ‘thistle’ ( carduus) but the vegetable goes by many alternative names including, silver beet, beet spinach, seakale beet, and leaf beet. It is also commonly referred to as Swiss chard, although since the plant originated in the Mediterranean, this prefix is somewhat misleading. It is thought that the Dutch seed merchants of the 19 th century added the word ‘Swiss’ to differentiate the plant from French spinach varieties. As average frost dates vary very widely in the United Kingdom it is not possible to specify a single timeframe for the whole country for planting Chard.

Chard is one of those vegetables that is among the essentials of increasingly-popular Mediterranean Cuisine, and that makes sense because this leafy green is a native of Sicily. Yes! Chard looks great in containers as a central, feature plant, with low-growing bedding plants around the edges. Sow in modules first then transplant when they have a few true leaves. Choose a large container filled with a good peat-free compost, such as Miracle-Gro® Peat Free Premium All Purpose Compost. Water regularly as containers can easily dry out. Can chard grow in shade?

Lyon is renowned for its taste. The leaves are lime-green on white stalks. The leaves grow more than a foot long and near 10 inches wide. It is an open-pollinated variety that is ready to harvest in 50 days. Swiss chard is best enjoyed the same day it was cut, but it can be stored, unwashed, in an unsealed plastic bag for up to a week. It can also be frozen or used in a canning recipe for later enjoyment.Chard is a superfood,high in vitamins A, C, and K. It doesn’t have that bitter taste that many other greens have, and it makes a good substitute for spinach or kale, if you’re not a fan of thosesuperfoods. As with growing Chard in open ground, the pots should be placed in a sunny but sheltered location. Common Pests & Problems The thinned Chard plants should not be composted or thrown away – they will make tasty additions to salads and stir-fries. Preferred Aspect Red Magic is a hybrid with cranberry red stems and veins. It is a hybrid that grows up to 18 inches tall. It reaches maturity in about 60 days.

Then, add the leaves, some sliced garlic, salt, and pepper, and cook until the leaves wilt, about another 2 minutes. Its several cultivars have sufficiently varying flavours to please spinach-lovers and kale-lovers… and quite possibly also those who do not like either spinach or kale! Commonly Grown CultivarsChard prefers a fertile soil, so adding some well-rotted manure or garden compost to the soil the previous season can be beneficial. Perpetual Spinach’ is identified by its very name as a cultivar that you can be assured of harvesting on a continuing basis. It is more spinach-like than most Chards and makes a fine spinach substitute. This variety keeps particularly well, and can be refrigerated longer than most others, and is the best one to store frozen. Chard prefers deep, humus-rich soil in a sunny to semi-shady location. It also has a high and regular water requirement. Once you have found the right location for your chard, it is easy to care for. Watering and fertilising Though one can harvest on a continuing basis from Swiss Chard plants, one can practise succession sowing with this vegetable. Chard Plant Care