Quick Reference
When to Start |
Mid spring
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Crop Rotation |
Avoid planting in the same spot that spinach, beets, or any member of the beetroot family grew in the previous year.
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How To Plant |
Plant seeds 1/2" deep in rows spaced 1 foot apart
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Spacing and Support |
Start seeds 4" apart. As they come in thin to 8" apart by removing the weakest plants
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When to Harvest |
As soon as leaves are large enough to eat. Leaves and stalks can be harvested throughout the season without killing the plant.
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Storage |
Will stay good for a week or 2 in the vegetable crisper. For long-term freezing works best.
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Until we started gardening, I had never even heard of Swiss Chard. Now when people ask me for a great garden tip or secret I give my standard answer: Swiss Chard. It could actually be renamed the Swiss Army Plant because it ends up replacing the need for 4 or 5 other plants all in one. You can eat the leaves fresh as the main ingredient in a salad or as an upgrade over lettuce in a sandwich. The fresh stalks are the same texture as celery but actually have a taste to them. When cooked the leaves taste like spinach and the stalks can be prepared and served like asparagus. All that and it's so good looking it could be planted as an ornamental plant in the front yard. Swiss Chard is also the least temperature affected vegetable you will plant. Once the heat of mid-summer kicks in and lettuce and spinach is wilting and going to seed, Swiss Chard is going strong. Late in the fall when the first frost hits Swiss Chard is still unfazed. We once made a fresh salad on Christmas Day (in Massachusetts) using Swiss Chard as the base which was still alive and well with no covering at all. This doesn't happen most years but just goes to show you how tough this plant is.
When To Start
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You can safely plant your seeds whenever you want, but they will only germinate and grow when the soil reaches a certain temperature. Seeds will germinate when the soil is between 50-85 degrees, and optimal growing temperature is 60-65 degrees. Have we ever actually considered the soil temperature? No, we haven't. After 6 months locked inside I'm getting my garden going as soon as humanly possible.
Generally speaking a good time to plant Swiss Chard is late April, or about a month before the last frost date. |
Crop Rotation
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Avoid planting Swiss Chard in the same spot that spinach, beets, or any member of the beetroot family grew in the previous year.
Click here to read about crop rotation and why it is so important It's important to not only avoid planting the same crop in the same spot 2 years in a row, but you also have to avoid plants in the same family as they typically draw on the same nutrients and have issues with the same pests. Click here to learn more about plant families and find a chart showing which ones are related. |
How to Plant
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Direct sow seeds right into the garden when the time comes. Seeds should be planted about 1/2" below the surface.
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Spacing and Support
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Plant seeds every 4" in rows spaced 1 foot apart. As the seeds germinate, pull out weaker plants so that there is an 8" space between plants.
You may be tempted to give them more room but the leaves taste best when they are small. You also want them to be touching when fully mature so they form a little canopy shading out the ground down below. It will eliminate the need for weeding and also help to regulate the soil moisture levels. |
Harvesting
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Once the plant is 6" tall you can remove 1-2 stalks at a time for a continuous harvest all summer long without killing the plant. Larger plants can be cut down even more. You'll get the hang of it and find the balance as you go. Remember a plant's leaves are it's solar panels so you want to make sure it still has enough to keep thriving and pumping out new leaves.
New leaves grow from the center so cut the stalks from the outside first, about an inch above the dirt. Once a plant is well established and has overgrown outside leaves, you can remove and compost those to encourage newer growth. Leaves taste best when young but we still use them when they are fairly large. |
What to do with way too many of them
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You could freeze the leaves similar to spinach,but it's unlikely you're going to end up with a ton of it. Typically you hang onto Swiss Chard as long as possible until one day it finally gives up and you just compost the dead plants.
A great use for the over-sized leaves is to use them like a taco shell. They work much better then lettuce cups as they are much stronger and you can actually fold them like a wrap without breaking the leave. I actually prefer these to regular taco shells now - mostly because I can eat more tacos when the shell is made of a vegetable and much less filling. You could probably make a lot of stuffed grape leave type recipes with them as well. |