Released: March 21, 2002

Also see: March 2002 Yard 'n Garden news package

Begin ’Gourmet Gardening’ By Planting Swiss Chard

MANHATTAN, Kan. – An easy way for Kansans to start feeling like a gourmet gardener is to plant Swiss chard in early spring.

"Picked young, chard leaves are an interesting substitute for spinach in salads. Picked at maturity, they are a vitamin A-rich cooking green, served alone or in combination with cooked spinach, mustard greens or the like. What takes Swiss chard well out of the ordinary, however, is its looks," said Chuck Marr, vegetable crops specialist for Kansas State University Research and Extension.

The newest varieties of Swiss chard still have lightly ruffled leaves in green/bronze. But their leaf veins and long, celery-like stems can now be rhubarb red, canary yellow, greenish white or hot pink. The Bright Lights variety (a 1998 All-America Selection winner) has stem clusters that produce all of those colors in various combinations and expand the possibilities to include gold, orange and purple – with both pastel and neon-bright variations.

"Swiss chard likes cool, mild weather, so Kansans often can put out their first planting in late March or early April," Marr said. "At the same time, though, chard has more heat tolerance than many cool-season crops. Its initial growing season often extends into early summer. And you can plant a fall crop as early as August."

Chard "seed" is actually a dried fruit with seed(s) inside. Typically, Kansans plant them about 1 inch apart and one-half inch deep in rows 18 to 24 inches apart. Gardeners who just want to produce salads, however, may plant in 4- to 6-inch wide bands, rather than separate rows.

"Water carefully. Soil crusting will prevent good germination," Marr advised. "When the seedlings are 1 to 2 inches tall, hand thin the stand so the remaining plants are 2 to 4 inches apart – or even 6 inches apart if you want big leaves for cooking greens. Then use frequent shallow cultivations to hold down the weeds, because Swiss chard doesn’t compete very well."

Swiss chard is a relative of the beet – which also produces salad and cooking greens, as well as an edible root and/or beet juice for borscht. Both perform best in a sunny, fertile, well-watered location.

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K-State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well-being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county Extension offices, experiment fields, area Extension offices and regional research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K-State campus, Manhattan.

Story by:
Kathleen Ward, Communications Specialist
kward@oznet.ksu.edu
K-State Research& Extension News