Swiss chard brightens up the vegetable garden from the emergence of the seedling or transplanting.
While radishes, beets and other root vegetables hide their beauty underground, they proudly display their colors. Outstripping tomatoes, peppers, chili peppers and eggplants, they quickly occupy the entire vegetable scene. It’s hard to have a more versatile vegetable in the garden.
A giant “spinach”
Beauty first.
Often considered a giant spinach, Swiss chard has glossy, often embossed or crinkled foliage in various shades of green, mostly dark, but sometimes with purple. Many varieties offer stems, the petioles, also called cards, in often very bright colors of yellow, gold, white, red, pink or orange, which extend into the veins of the leaves. A beauty that will make people jealous in the vegetable garden since each tuft can reach a good 30 centimeters in height. Even more, with normal maintenance, our plant kaleidoscope will persist until frost. We understand why, in English, we sometimes speak of “perpetual spinach”.
PHOTO DIETNAR RABICH, WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
The color of the chard petiole extends into the veins of the leaf, which adds to its brightness.
Everything is eaten
PHOTO RUTH HARTNUP, WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
To brighten up a small or large vegetable garden, it’s hard to beat colorful Swiss chard.
Now the bouquet!
Everything is eaten in Swiss chard. Its large leaves, 10 to 15 cm wide, have a taste very similar to that of spinach and its chards which are cooked separately, daisy-style or sautéed in a pan – like asparagus, recipe books tell us. . Its generosity is fabulous because if you pick its leaves without affecting the new central shoots, it will produce all summer. Harvesting can begin as soon as the plant reaches 15 to 20 cm in height to obtain more tender foliage, in order to serve it in salads, in particular. And if you shave the plant, say 3 or 4 cm from the ground, it will produce leaves again.
Color the vegetable garden
PHOTO PROVIDED BY WH PERRON
The “Célébration” cultivar offered by W. H. Perron bears a striking resemblance to the “Bright Lights” variety released in 1998 and then celebrated with a major North American horticultural prize.
Called chard or perry in French-speaking Europe, consumed in ancient Greece and Rome (Cicero even admitted in a letter to having had chard indigestion), Swiss chard and its close cousin, the beet, have the same origin; the first having been selected for the development of its leaves and the second, for the hypertrophy of its root. In ancient times, it was even used in an infinite number of concoctions, as much to counter stomach aches as to eliminate warts or even lice.
For their part, chard with colored petioles took off, at least here, in 1998 with the appearance of “Bright Lights”, a variety whose seeds produce stems of various colors. This unique cultivar required around fifteen years of hybridization work by New Zealand amateur gardener John Eaton before it was released onto the market. If “Bright Lights” is often used in urban designs for decorative purposes, there are also several other color varieties.
She hates competition
PHOTO PROVIDED BY JOHNNY’S SELECTED SEEDS
The “Heart of Gold” cultivar from Jonny’s Selected Seeds produces magnificent golden petioles.
Swiss chard requires two years to produce seeds (biennial), but it is grown as an annual plant like most vegetables. Not very demanding, it nevertheless appreciates rich soil, particularly because of its continuous growth. It can be sown in open ground, in a sunny position, 2 cm deep, as soon as the soil reaches 10 oC or, better yet, around 16 oC. Another advantage, it can also do with a little shade. It is also possible to obtain plants from a garden center or to sow indoors 5 to 6 weeks before the planned transplanting period, with each stem placed 15-25 centimeters from each other.
Swiss chard hates weeds and regular weeding is required, a guarantee of health for the entire garden. Like many vegetable plants, it will thrive in soil that maintains constant humidity and regular watering during heatwaves or droughts will ensure optimal growth.
Good match with lettuce
PHOTO PROVIDED BY JOHNNY’S SELECTED SEEDS.
Lettuce and Swiss chard beautify the vegetable garden with their varied colors.
Obviously, praising Swiss chard is likely to upset the other plants it grows alongside in the garden. In this regard, lettuce should be vindicated. They may not have the same panache, but they also offer beautiful varied colors, especially in shades of green, but also in several shades of red or purple, especially among the leaf cultivars. Chard and lettuce clearly go well together to brighten up the vegetable garden.