Add a little extra color and nutrition to your garden and grow swiss chard this season. Swiss chard is considered a leafy green vegetable; however, the stalks may be white, yellow or red. The leaves of swiss chard can be prepared like spinach and the stalks like asparagus. The plant has high amounts of vitamin A and C and contains calcium, iron, phosphorus, potassium and magnesium. Swiss chard, like spinach, is a cool season vegetable that can tolerate frost.
Steps to Grow Swiss Chard
What You Need
Shovel
Compost
Swiss Chard Seeds
21–0‑0 Fertilizer
Step 1
Prepare the soil to a depth of 6 inches. Mix compost evenly through the soil.
Step 2
Begin planting about 3 weeks before the last frost day. Soak your swiss chard seeds in warm water overnight.
Step 3
Plant each seed at a depth of ½ inches. Space each plant 6 inches apart in rows 12 inches apart.
Step 4
Give your swiss chard 2 inches of water per week. Place mulch around your plants once the seedlings develop 3 to 4 new leaves.
Step 5
Add 21–0‑0 fertilizer around your plants at a rate of ¼ cup per 10 foot row a month after sowing your plants.
Step 6
Harvest the outer leaves of your swiss chard by cutting the leaves about 1 ½ inches from the ground. Allow the center bud and leaves to continue growing for later harvest.
Resources
University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture; Home Gardening Series: Chard
Cornell University; Home Gardening Vegetable Growing Guides: Swiss Chard
University of Illinois; Watch Your Garden Grow: Chard
Utah State University; Swiss Chard in the Garden
Keywords: how to grow swiss chard, grow swiss chard, grow swiss chard in your garden, steps to grow swiss chard
Check out Little Tree Food Forest for articles on food forests and homesteading.
Check out StoryScapes for articles on creative writing.
Subscribe to our newsletter to get information delivered to your inbox on edible landscaping, growing food and medicinal plants, growing mushrooms, foraging, fermentation, food preservation, raising small livestock, and more.