Swiss Chard

[Kirsten]

has anyone else tried growing this? Every review I've read of it seems to rave about how amazing it is.

Swiss Chard is probably the most under appreciated of all vegetables. It is vitamin rich and nutritious, and is extremely easy to grow. A prolific grower, Swiss Chard tolerates poor soil, inattention, and withstands frost and mild freezes. Swiss chard tastes good and you can eat both the stalk and the leaves. The leaves can be used as a fresh salad or cooked like spinach. The stalks are cut up and cooked in a variety of dishes.

http://www.all-creatures.org/recipes/images/i-chard.jpg

I went ahead and bought some seeds and planted them yesterday. They're funny looking little things: http://i32.tinypic.com/v3dshl.png

[Riz]

yeah they are funny looking seeds, I have never even heard of the name before ,but i have seen it on salad dishes over at friends houses.. are you growing them in a pot or in the ground !? ..

[Kirsten]

I'm starting them out in a pot - I would've preferred to do it in a newspaper pot but sadly, I don't have time to sit and make a mountain of them right now :( I'm hoping to put most of them outside and keep some of them in pots so they'll last late into the year.

I read that each of the "seeds" is actually a "seed ball" contaiing up to 5 actual seeds, so you might get more than one plant from a seed. The package says 7-10 days for germination and that you can harvest in 6-7 weeks.

[Kirsten]

I planted 12 seeds - I've got about 17 plants right now. It's definitely true that each "seed" sends up more than one shoot!

[Riz]

good news,

its always a pleasure to see something so tiny germinate, 6 to 7 weeks till harvest not bad atall,, :)

[Kirsten]

http://i31.tinypic.com/20h0ql4.png

It doesn't seem to be growing quite as fast as the package claimed, but eh, it looks like it'll be yummy whenever it's big enough to eat...

[Kirsten]

I miss swiss chard so badly... the thing is so tasty.

Just sayin'.

By the way, it is freaking 66 degrees F here today... what the heck???

[Kirsten]

I planted my seeds today - 29 seed balls in total. I'm hoping for a BIG patch of yummy leaves this summer :)

[rainbox]

I've planted mine too, straight outside in a box. It's been a bit cold at night though (I think there's been frost) so I hope I haven't killed them!

[Kirsten]

I've heard they're supposed to be pretty winter hardy (under the category of "cold weather vegetables :) ) so hopefully they'll be okay. Mine last year kept producing even after the first frost, but they still died in the winter.

I didn't plant nearly enough last year - I only planted about twelve plants, and didn't plant them until May, so I only got about four harvests out of them.

Here's good luck to us :)

[rainbox]

My chard is sprouting:) pic from a couple of days ago.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3663/3410886195_f65e3e3d01.jpg?v=0

[Kirsten]

Ooh is that bright lights or rainbow chard?? it's so pretty!

[rainbox]

It's rainbow chard:) Why grow the normal type when yo can have multi coloured stems?:D

[Kirsten]

because my family insists that vegetables of that bright a color must be poisonous and refuse to eat them :p (they're weird)

so I've just got the boring white and green kind... they taste good though!

[rainbox]

What about carrots?? :P

I've never grown/tasted the white and green type but I'm sure it's just the same. It does taste yummy though, especially with lots of butter on it! :D

[rainbox]

My chard has hardly grown since the last photo!:( I don't understand what the problem is; it's warm, sunny and they get lots of water. Any clues?

[edibles]

maybe they are too close. im sure their is a a good reason. hope they go well for you

[rainbox]

Most of them are spaced out quite well, there's not actually that many seedling in there. It's a mystery:(

[Riz]

My chard has hardly grown since the last photo!:( I don't understand what the problem is; it's warm, sunny and they get lots of water. Any clues?


how deep is the container martine ?

[rainbox]

It's just under a foot deep I think. There should be plenty of growing room... By the way the same thing is happening with my lettuce, they were sown at the same time at the beginning of march. They should be huge by now!

[Kirsten]

I'm late joining this thread again, but for some reason I have NEVER had any luck with chard in containers of any size or shape. After they germinated they just quit growing larger. I think the roots just go so deep... the dead ones that I tried to pull up from last year must have had 2-3 feet of taproot.

Unfortunately this year we planted about 60-70 of them in the yard and now I have too much chard!!! :eek: there's no way I can eat all of this!

[Tania]

They can be kept in freezer ? In august i want to sow 2 packs of spinach to have for winter :)