how to grow rainbow chard

chard [Beta vulgaris var. vulgaris] does best in a bed high in organic matter.
distribute a thick layer (5 cm/2” or more) of ripe compost over the garden bed in early spring well before sowing the chard. remove germinating weeds by raking the bed every week or so.
chard seeds do not like cold and damp soil. start sowing when the soil has reached a minimum of 10°C (50F). in berlin this is usually the case in the middle of april.
seeds planted out in cold soil will be germinating later than the ones planted out a couple of weeks later when the soil has warmed up enough.
place the seeds 3cm(1”) deep in the soil and space the rows 30 cm (12”) apart.
once the chard has germinated and grown a couple of inches it needs to be thinned out to about 20cm (7”). if there is not enough space the plants stay small, develop only thin stems and are more susceptible to mildew.
depending on the amount of slugs I mulch the chard only very lightly or not at all until the thinning stage. instead I earth the plants up once by drawing the soil from in-between the rows (work very carefully and shallow) toward the stems of the chard. at the end the green parts of the plants stick out of a mound of soil that covers part of the stems. this procedure disturbs germinating weeds and gives the plants a better stance.
once the chard has established it appreciates a layer of straw mulch to keep the ground moist. additionally to the compost I fertilise the chard with nettle tea or nettle – comfrey tea (1part tea-10parts water) two or three times in may and june.

good companion plants are bush beans, cabbage and relatives, carrots, radishes, beetroots and onion. do not plant next to or after spinach.
start harvesting chard after 2months by only removing a few leaves (including stems) per plant at a time, leaving the heart of the plant intact. chard can be harvested until the first frost in autumn.

praise of rainbow chard

9 reasons why I love rainbow chard

it is highly attractive – I just love the colours.

it is easy to grow – see “how to grow chard”

one or two rows of chard feed a lot of people – admittedly there is sometimes too much of it. if you do not like eating it more than once a week 12 plants are enough for a 5 people household

shiny, brightly coloured plants grow vigorously and show of your gardening skills – grow in view of your neighbours for this reason

it is easy to harvest

it is easy to wash – as chard grows a lot higher than spinach, there is a lot less sand involved.

stems can be prepared like asparagus – cut into sticks, and boil in salt water al dente

the green part of the leaves can be prepared like spinach

tasty, yummy, delicious

harvesting colours

late summer is doing more summer than summer. loving it. good haul today with rainbow chard and flowers, beans, courgette, tomatoes and some herbs.

rainbow chard"bright lights" and flowers

I can not believe the bean season is almost over. I did not have enough yet. the green ones are scarlet runner beans. some people grow them on their fences as screens and don´t bother eating the beans. strange because they are even sweeter than the normal runner beans. the purple variety we got from an organic seed catalog. reliable, hardy, good taste, steady crop. pity they lose their purple colour when cooked.

september harvest

growing tomatoes in our unpredictable climate outdoors is a challenge most years. the rainy summer had them suffering heavily from blight. we always grow 5 or more varieties. some deal better with cold, some are excellent when there is a lot of sun and do not mind if it gets a bit dryer. with a mix of different varieties we usually get a good crop no matter what the weather is like. the yellow ones are called “schönhagener frühe”. me an my friend were a bit surprised because we remembered them to be red… won´t complain though. tasty and as the name suggests very early.