Chard
Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris
Family: Amaranthaceae
COOL SEASON GREEN
A confidence builder for the gardener, chard (often called Swiss chard) is one of the easier-to-grow greens of the garden. It is a cool season green that can be planted from seed as early as August, and throughout the cool season into early spring. Chard can sometimes even perennialize—though it will be buggy and rough-looking in summer, the plants often bounce back to health in fall when temperatures cool down and the noctuid moth larvae are less prevalent.
The original variety has been traced back to the largest Mediterranean island, Sicily. It was known by the ancient Greeks, but it is difficult to pinpoint chard in historical records because it went by many names similar to beets, spinach, kale, and greens. Chard is known to be a nutritional powerhouse vegetable packed with vitamins, nutrients and health benefits. Rainbow Swiss chard contains high levels of vitamins C, K, E, beta-carotene and the minerals manganese and zinc. As noted, it also contains betalain. Betalin pigments have repeatedly been shown to support activity within the body's detoxification process, activating and processing unwanted toxic substances. Betalians are not heat-stable, though, so longer cooking times can decrease their presence.
Chard is the same species as the beet, and beet greens can be eaten like chard, though they may not be as delicately flavored. Chard will not produce the beetroots, however.
Chard comes in a variety of colors, and some varieties contain less oxalic acid, making them more delicate and tender.
All chard varieties are descendents of the sea beet (B. maritima), a wild seashore plant found growing along the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts of Europe and North Africa. Though often called “Swiss chard” chard was developed in the Mediterranean and has little to do with the Swiss, though they use the ingredient. The origin of the adjective "Swiss" is unclear. Some attribute the name to it having been first described by a Swiss botanist, either Gaspard Bauhin or Karl Koch (although the latter was German, not Swiss).
USES
Chard can be served raw or cooked. It can be sauteed, blanched, stewed, baked, even grilled. It can be added to salads, pastas, pizza, bruschetta, gratins and soups. The chard stalks are edible and add texture and flavor to the dishes they’re cooked into. Complimentary ingredient pairings include citrus, tomatoes, garlic, chickpeas, white beans, aged and melting cheeses, cream, mushrooms, bacon, fennel and herbs such as basil, tarragon and chervil.
Here is a list of 19 chard recipes to inspire.
PRESERVATION
Chard can be cut and frozen for later use. Chard can also be added to lacto-fermented vegetables.
GROWING
SEASON & PLANTING
Plant chard from seed as early as August and throughout the cool season as late as early spring. Grown starts can be planted as soon as they become available. Chard will grow throughout the cool season and into the warm season. Plants may bolt (go to flower) in the early summer, though sometimes plants persist in the garden (if well-watered and fed) and as mentioned above, return in the fall.
SOIL & NUTRITION
Chard isn’t picky about soil, but amended garden soil will give the best results, and occasional feeding with organic plant food makes delicious healthy plants.
TEMPERATURE & SUN EXPOSURE
Chard can take temperatures down to 15°F, so most of us in this region will never need to worry about covering plants in the cold.
WATER
Keep plants evenly and consistently watered.
HARVESTING
You can harvest outer leaves as the plants grow (cut-and-come-again), or you can grow plants to a mature head and harvest all at once.
WILDLIFE
In warmer temperatures, noctuid moths can produce holes in leaves. The damage is purely cosmetic.
INVASIVENESS
Chard doesn’t appear to escape cultivation in our region.
SOME HIGHLIGHTED VARIETIES
There are countless varieties of chard to choose from but these are some of our favorites.
Bright Lights This is probably, currently the most popular chard. Plants come up in a variety of colors.
Fordhook Giant This a tender, savoyed (bumpy and curly leafed) variety.
Lucullus A wide smooth white stems and light green leaves will produce with heavy yields
Magdalena Acelgas Acelgas is spanish for chard. This is a Native Seeds/SEARCH variety that is very leafy, and one of the most tender. From Magdalena, Sonora.
Peppermint This chard has vivid pink-on-white striping on the petiole. Glossy, dark green leaves make for a striking contrast with the brilliant white veins. Deep leaf savoy for higher leaf volume.
Red Magic Picked young and tender, this variety has cranberry-red stems and glossy green to merlot-colored leaves.
Pink Lipstick This lovely variety has deep green leaves with wide, bright magenta stems.
Perpetual Spinach The taste of this variety is more like a true spinach than ordinary chard, and the leaves look like spinach too—flatter and more pointed than chard, with slimmer stems.
Umaina This tender Japanese variety has beautiful broad, slightly wrinkled leaves with short midribs.