Chard

Swiss Chard: 

I grow Swiss Chard on my allotment because it is a bit like growing two vegetables for the price of one.

Chard can be sautéed whole and when the chard is a bit older, you can cook the leaves and use the rib in a stir fry.

Although Swiss chard can be seeded straight into the ground, I prefer to so mine in plugs and plant them out after a few weeks. I sow them the first week of april and plant them out the third week of may.

I place the seedlings about a foot apart and grow four plants, this gives us enough produce for the kitchen.

Leaf miners usually show up in the first week of june and can ruin young tender leaves. I deal with this problem by removing the spoiled leaves and wait for new growth. Because leaf miners have definite life cycles.it generally means if one flush of leaves is infested, the successive ones will not be. In fact I find in some years, I have no trouble at all. 

By mid-june when the leaves reach 4-6 inches long, you can start harvesting young leaves  at the base of the plant of the ribs so that plants continue to grow. Do not forget to separate the leaves from the ribs before cooking.

You will find that Swiss chard will put up with sever temperatures, so that you can enjoy fresh chard right the winter. 

This continual harvesting of chard means that I usually avoid dealing with the huge size leaves that you will find in the supermarket. It can be, however that you sometimes end up with large chard leaves. That is fine because you can cook the leaves and ribs separately.

Chards high water content means that the crop will not store very well. So when I have some in my fridge for a few days, I thoroughly wash it by dunking it up and down in a sinkful of luke warm water. This seems to do the trick.

How I decide to use the chard depends on its age.

Chard which has rubs with less than half inch wide needs nothing more than a quick wash in water. Anything bigger than that, I cut off the stem and use separately.

When the ribs are more than one inch, I not only cut off the leaves but also trim some of the heavy ribs that run up the back of the leaves. I also peel large ribs like celery. Taking a knife, I start at the end of the ribs, cut slightly into the flesh, and pull slowly down-- the strings peel off. .

My favorite way to cook chard is to saute the whole baby leaves and ribs together. You will find that older chard seems to darken when cooked.

I nearly always steam my chard.