swiss chard

Growing swiss chard

• Swiss chard grows best in cool weather, but I have found it does well all summer in my garden.

• Goldfinches love swiss chard, and they help with pest control, so I will be planting it every year from now on.

• Space plants 10 to 16 inches apart.

• Add some general purpose fertilizer and a little compost to the soil before planting.

• Harvest the more mature leaves from the outside of the plant. Be careful not to damage the center growth point.

  PLEASE NOTE: The plants on my farm table have NOT been hardened off. They are straight from the greenhouse.
  You can do one of the following:
  1. Expose them gradually to outdoor conditions over a week
  -OR (as I do)-
  2. Plant them immediately and give them protection from excess sun, wind, and rain for a week or two.

Bright Lights - Swiss chard

60 days. Individual stems are red, yellow, orange, gold, or white, and together they create a visual feast in your ornamental beds, in your vegetable garden, and at your dinner table. Bright Lights has lightly savoyed leaves; some are burgundy and some are green. Very mild flavors. 20 inch tall plants. Open pollinated variety. (Territorial Seed)

Descriptions and some photos are from the seed company catalogs.
These are the varieties offered on the farm table in 2024.