Chard seeds
by Sarah - October 3rd, 2011.Filed under: Uncategorized.
Chard is worth a try for winter.
Try in pots in the greenhouse or cold frame or try a few out in the garden.
Chard is known by several different names – Swiss chard, silverbeet, perpetual spinach, spinach beet, crab beet, bright lights due to it’s bright colours.
Swiss chard is high in vitamins A, K and C.
Chard is less hardy than perpetual spinach so if you only grow one of them, grow the spinach
Eat young leaves as salad and eat mature leaves steamed as a hot vegetable.
Chard White Silver 2 Seeds from Plant Me Now £1.49
Chard White Silver is a very versatile vegetable with edible stems and leaves. The baby leaves can be used in salads while cooked leaves are like spinach. Excellent source of Vitamin C.
Chard Rhubarb Chard – Vulvan Seeds from Plant Me Now £1.95
Cook leaves like spinach and mid ribs like celery. Baby leaves can be used in salads, very long cropping. Excellent source of vitamin C.
Chard Rubarb Chard – Charlotte Seeds from Plant Me Now £1.95
Add colour and interest in salads, pick young leaves for salads or larger leaves as spinach. Excellent source of vitamin C.
Good King Henry – 1 packet (250 seeds) from Thompson & Morgan £1.99
This hardy perennial herb is becoming an increasingly popular for a multitude of culinary uses. The young shoots can be cut in spring, and used as a substitute for asparagus. Leave some shoots to develop through summer and by August, the young leaves will make an excellent alternative to spinach. Try Good King Henry leaves mixed with sorrel and chard leaves for their contrasting flavours – you can even eat the tender flower buds. This useful herb can also be grown for winter greens if given cloche protection. Height: 60cm (24”). Spread: 40cm (16”).
Leaf Beet ‘Five Colour Silverbeet’ – Heritage – 1 packet from Thompson & Morgan £1.99
Customer RatingA rainbow mix of vibrant stem and leaf colours maintained as an Australian heirloom. An excellent value crop as the juicy, mild flavoured broad stems (chards), and the leaves (as spinach) can be eaten. Both are best steamed, but as baby leaves the stems and leaves can be added to salads. Decorative vegetable perfect for borders and containers.
Leaf Beet ‘Rhubarb Chard’ – 1 packet (150 seeds) from Thompson & Morgan £1.99
A colourful and tasty form of Swiss Chard with rich ruby-red leaf stalks and dark greeny purple foliage. Swiss Rhubarb Chard produces an abundance of large, tasty leaves and wide mid-ribs. Cook the succulent mid-rib like asparagus and serve with melted butter. Easier, and some consider tastier, than spinach. If the plantsof Swiss Rhubarb Chard are left to flower, the flower stalks can be cooked and eaten like sprouting broccoli. Cropping from mid-summer to late autumn. After a normal winter, it will re-emerge to give an unbelievably early spring crop.
Leaf Beet ‘Lucullus’ – 1 packet (200 seeds) from Thompson & Morgan £2.09
A much more prolific form, Swiss Chard Lucullus produces an abundance of large, tasty leaves and wide, white mid-ribs. Cook the succulent mid-rib like asparagus and serve with melted butter. Easier, and some consider tastier, than spinach. If the plants of Swiss Chard Lucullus are left to flower, the flower stalks can be cooked and eaten like sprouting broccoli. Cropping from mid-summer to late autumn. After a normal winter, it will re-emerge to give an unbelievably early spring crop.
Chard ‘White Silver 2’ x 350 seeds from Blooming Direct £2.20
Chard leaves can be cooked as spinach and the stems as celery. They are versatile, with a long season. The baby leaves are also great in salads. An excellent source of vitamin C.
Chard Bright Lights Seeds from Plant Me Now £2.49
Easy to grow. Steam stems and treat leaves like spinach. Pick as baby leaves for colourful salads. Excellent source of vitamin C.