All About Growing Swiss Chard

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Harvesting and Storage

Twist off individual outer leaves and compost old leaves that have lost their glossy sheen. Three to five leaves can be picked from mature plants at a time, but be sure to leave the growing crown intact. Frequent picking helps to stimulate the production of new leaves. Rinse leaves with cool water immediately, shake off the excess moisture, and store in plastic bags in the refrigerator for up to four days.

Excess chard is easy to blanch and freeze, just like spinach, and you can dry perfect leaves and use the “flakes” to add color and nutrition to winter soups and stews. Chard stems are sometimes made into fermented pickles, or you can pickle the stems and leaves together with a standard vinegar-sugar brine before sealing the jars in a waterbath canner.

Saving Seeds

Like other biennial plants, chard produces flowers and seeds in the spring of its second year, after it has been through winter. Chard is only winter-hardy to about 15 degrees Fahrenheit, so in most areas you must dig the plants in fall and replant them in spring if you want to save seed. Through winter, keep the trimmed plants packed in damp sand in your basement or another cool place. Set them out four to six weeks before your last frost date.

Chard is wind-pollinated, so at least six closely spaced plants are needed for good seed set. Look for greenish flowers followed by seed capsules clustered close to the stem. When the stems dry to brown, crush them inside a paper bag, and gather the largest seeds that fall to the bottom. Store them in a cool, dry place. Chard seeds will keep for at least three years, and often longer. If you plant a 10-foot row each year, a packet of seeds will last you three years and bear 10 to 12 pounds of chard each season.

Growing Tips

Weed early and often, because young chard competes poorly with weeds. As the plants gain size, they do a reasonably good job of shading out late-season weeds.

Mulch heavily to keep the soil cool and moist, and to reduce splashing of soil onto leaves. Water regularly, because dry conditions tend to make Swiss chard’s flavor harsh.

Color up your garden with trios of bright chards planted in intermittent mounds. Station chard in high-visibility spots near the front of the garden. Create maximum contrast by growing chard in close company with fine-textured plants such as carrots, dill or curly parsley.

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