Simple sautéed Swiss chard is an easy, healthy, and delicious side dish, but there are plenty of other ways to serve this green. These Swiss chard recipes are some of my favorites:

You might have to prune away any heavily infested or web-covered leaves. Then, spray plants with water in the same way you would do for aphids. Once established Swiss chard will tolerate heat and frost. Plant chard also in summer for a fall harvest. Good question! Swiss chard is a leafy vegetable that’s closely related to beets. In fact, if you’ve cooked with beet greens before, you’ll find that chard has a lot of similarities. The mature leaves are lush and relatively coarse when they’re raw, but they wilt down beautifully when they’re braised or sautéed. Their earthy flavor pairs really well with garlic, nuts, dried fruits like currants and raisins, and acids like lemon juice and vinegar.

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Chard prefers deep, humus-rich soil in a sunny to semi-shady location. It also has a high and regular water requirement. Once you have found the right location for your chard, it is easy to care for. Watering and fertilising

Fire Fresh is a fast-growing chard with ruby stems and veins. The leaves are ready to harvest in 23 to 35 days from transplanting, and the plants have a good degree of disease resistance. Though one can harvest on a continuing basis from Swiss Chard plants, one can practise succession sowing with this vegetable. Chard Plant Care Chard is a hardy and robust plant and will grow well in most soil types. Ideally, plant them in an open sunny position although they will tolerate partial shade. Swiss chard performs best in full sun but will also tolerate a little shade. The soil should be well drained and amended with plenty of organic matter, namely compost. Further amend the soil with a slow-release organic nitrogen fertilizer, such as blood meal , feather meal or cottonseed meal . The nitrogen will provoke vigorous growth of tender leaves.Swiss chard is also a popular fall crop. If growing Swiss chard seeds in the fall, start them about ten weeks before the average first autumn frost date. You can sow them directly in the soil or start them indoors and transplant them out when they are at least four weeks old. How to Plant Swiss Chard Seeds When the plants are young, between 5-10cm tall, thin them to about 25cm apart. Do so by cutting off the plants at the base. Each year you’ll inevitably run out of garden space and have a certain amount of seeds left over after planting. Don’t throw them out just yet! Depending on the type of seed and its quality, you may be able to store them and use them next year or the year after. In fact, some seeds, if properly stored, can be viable even after ten years. Some varieties of tomato seeds have even been known to germinate after as long as 16 years! Tips for Storing Seeds

When I buy a big bunch of green, red, or rainbow chard, I almost always cook the leaves. For me, they’re a little spongy and tough to use raw in salads, though baby chard, if it’s available, is a great salad base. Then, add some sliced garlic, salt, a little bit of coriander powder, the chard leaves, and cook until they wilt, about another 2 minutes.The ideal pH range for Swiss chard is 6.0–6.5, a range that most vegetables enjoy. You can conduct a soil test to find out the garden’s pH, and the test results will also reveal any nutrient deficiencies. Fordhook Giant’ is also an heirloom variety that is renowned for its vigorous growth. It is also particularly hardy and the most frost-resistant, allowing the gardener to harvest leaves through winter so long as the ground is not frozen over. Its leaves are almost the colour of kale while its stems and petioles are creamy white. It is strongly flavoured and is great for cooked dishes. When & Where To Plant