Common names: chard, Swiss chard, sea kale, Swiss beet, sea kale beet

Botanical name: Beta vulgaris cicia

Origin: Europe, Mediterranean

Varieties

Lucullus (50 days); Fordhook Giant (60 days); Rhubarb (60 days).

Description

Chard is basically a beet without the bottom. It's a biennial that's grown as an annual for its big crinkly leaves. Chard is a decorative plant; with its juicy red or white leaf stems and rosette of large, dark green leaves, it can hold its own in the flower garden. It's also a rewarding crop for the home vegetable gardener - it's easy-going and very productive. If you harvest the leaves as they grow, the plant will go on producing all season.- Chard has an impressive history, too; it was a popular foodstuff even before the days of the Roman Empire.

Where and when to grow

Chard prefers cool temperatures; high temperatures slow down leaf production, but chard tolerates heat better than spinach does. In a mild climate you can plant chard from fall to early spring; in the North, plant from spring to midsummer.

How to plant

Plant chard from seed clusters (which each contain several seeds) about the average date of last frost in your area. Chard tolerates partial shade and likes fertile, well-worked soil with good drainage and a high organic content; like the beet, it is not fond of acid soil. Work a complete, well-balanced fertilizer into the soil before planting, at the rate of a pound per 100 square feet or 10 pounds per 1,000 square feet. Plant the seed clusters an inch deep and four to six inches apart in rows 18 to 24 inches apart. When they're large enough to handle, thin seedlings to stand about nine to 12 inches apart. Although you are growing from seed clusters, each of which is likely to produce several seedlings, thinning is not as important as it is when you're growing beets, which must have ample room for root development. Chard plants can stand crowding - they'll produce smaller leaves but more of them. A few extra plants will also give you replacements for any that bolt or go to seed in hot weather. Remove any plants that bolt, and let the others grow.

Fertilizing and watering

Fertilize before planting and again at midseason, at the same rate as the rest of the garden. The crop does need enough water to keep the leaves growing quickly, so keep the soil moist at all times.

Pests

Aphids and leaf miners are the major pests you'll have to contend with. You can usually control aphids by pinching out the affected area; if there are a lot of them, try hosing them off the plants. Leaf miners, wormlike  insects that feed inside the leaf surfaces, can also be controlled physically; pick off the older leaves where you see that miners have laid rows of pearl-white eggs.

Diseases

Chard has no serious disease problems.

When and how to harvest

Time from planting to harvest is 55 to 60 days. A 10-foot row of chard should give you nine pounds or more of produce. Start harvesting chard when the outside leaves are three inches long; don't let them get much over 10 inches long or they'll taste earthy. Some gardeners like to take off the outside leaves a few at a time; others prefer to cut the entire plant down to three inches and let it grow back. Chard will grow and produce steadily all summer, and if the soil is fertile and the weather doesn't get too cold, harvesting may continue into a second year.

Storing and preserving

Chard can be stored for one to two weeks in the refrigerator. It can also be frozen, canned, or dried; use the recipes for greens.

Serving suggestions

Chard is delicious steamed or cooked like spinach. The leaves have a sweet taste like spinach, and they're colorful in a salad. Chard stalks can be cooked like celery. Cut them into pieces two or three inches long and simmer them until tender; serve them hot with butter or chilled with a light vinaigrette. If you're cooking the leaves and stalks together, give the stalks a five-minute head start so that both will be tender at the end of the cooking time.