Swiss chardBeta vulgaris var. cicla

Chard accepts sun as well as partial shade, which makes it one of the few productive vegetables for a corner of the plot shaded in the afternoon by a hedge or wall. It prefers deep, moist soil, tolerates our heavy clays better than most leaf vegetables, and dislikes only standing water. Place it after a well-manured crop, cabbage or squash, and never after spinach or beetroot, its cousins, to avoid leaf miner and soil-borne diseases. At the edge of a bed, its large leaves usefully shade the base of climbing beans.

Loosen to 25 cm with a broadfork, as chard forms a fleshy taproot that goes down deep. Work in three to four kilos of mature compost per square metre, then rake the surface fine for an even seedbed. In the acid soils of the Ardennes or the Campine, a dressing of lime or wood ash the previous autumn suits it, chard liking neutral to slightly chalky soils. On capping loam, a light mulch of sieved compost along the row after sowing prevents the crust that blocks germination.

Sow in open ground from April to July, once the soil reaches 10 °C, in practice after 10 April in the centre of the country. Each "seed" is a cluster containing several seeds: place them every 10 cm in a drill 2 cm deep, in rows 40 cm apart, or in stations of two or three every 35 cm. Cover, firm and keep moist until germination, in eight to fifteen days. Two sowings are enough for the whole year: one around 20 April for summer, one around 15 July for autumn and winter.

To pick from the end of May, sow in March under cover or on a cool windowsill, one seed cluster per 7 cm pot, at 15 to 18 °C. Keep only one seedling, or two for the thin-stemmed varieties intended for picking as young leaves. Harden off from early April under a cold frame. Chard transplanted before six weeks in the pot and without breaking the root ball shows no check at all, contrary to what is often written. Do, however, avoid letting it suffer persistent cold below 5 °C in the pot: the plant, a biennial, would take it for a winter and bolt in June.

When plants sown in place have four leaves, thin to keep one plant every 35 to 40 cm for the thick-stemmed varieties, 20 cm for cut-and-come-again chard. The pulled seedlings can be transplanted elsewhere the same evening, root pushed well in with a dibber, or eaten as young shoots. Plant pot-grown and shop-bought plants from April to August, the crown exactly at soil level, in a hole watered beforehand. Firm and water another litre per plant. A light mulch of dried grass clippings laid the next day protects against capping and slugs.

Chard does very well in a container 30 cm deep, one plant every 25 cm, or a single plant in a pot 25 cm across for the coloured varieties, which are as decorative as they are productive. Fill with potting compost enriched with a third of garden compost over clay pebbles, place in sun or partial shade, and water as soon as the surface dries, every two days in summer. A liquid organic feed every three weeks supports repeated picking. A container sheltered against a wall comes through the winter and gives leaves again in March.

The first mistake is sowing too densely without thinning: the multiple seed clusters give tight clumps of puny leaves. The second is sowing in cold soil in March or planting out pots too early, which causes early bolting with no stems to harvest. The third is cutting the heart at harvest instead of taking the outer leaves. Finally, many gardeners plant ten plants when three or four feed a family from the end of May to December. Sow little, thin boldly, pick often.

Chard survives a dry spell without dying, but its stems then become fibrous and bitter, and the plant flowers. Water copiously once or twice a week in summer, eight to ten litres per square metre, at the base and preferably in the evening, keeping the soil moist under the mulch. A week of heat without water in July does more damage than a month of rain. In pots, check every day. In spring and autumn, our rainfall is almost always enough. Leaves that droop at midday and rise again in the evening do not signal a shortage; only morning wilting does.

As soon as the plants are 15 cm tall, mulch 5 cm deep with dried grass clippings, straw or shredded leaves, keeping the crown clear to avoid rot. Chard is hungry for nitrogen to renew its foliage: a watering of nettle liquid diluted to 10 % every three weeks from June to September, or a handful of compost at the base each month, keeps production steady. A plant whose leaves turn pale is simply asking for food. Avoid fresh manure, which gives leaves loaded with nitrates and attracts aphids.

Chard produces all the more for being picked. Take two or three outer leaves per plant per week, snapping them at the base with a sharp sideways movement, or with a knife 3 cm from the crown, never touching the four or five leaves of the heart. Old leaves left in place yellow and exhaust the plant: remove them even if you do not use them. Remove any flower stem as soon as it appears, thick and without broad leaves, cutting it flush: the plant then carries on giving for several weeks. A tired plant, cut back entirely to 5 cm and watered with liquid feed, starts again within ten days.

Beet leaf miner bores brown galleries in the leaves from April to June: lay insect-proof mesh over young sowings, and cut off and destroy any mined leaf, eggs included, as soon as you spot it. Slugs attack mainly the young plants: coarse mulch, collection at dusk, trap boards. In a wet summer, cercospora leaf spot dots the leaves with round spots edged in red; give air by spacing, water at the base, remove affected leaves and spray a horsetail decoction. Black aphids are dislodged with a jet of water or soft soap at 5 %. A three-year rotation without beetroot or spinach avoids most of this.

Late April, summer sowing under mesh against leaf miner. May, thinning, mulching, first picking from the March plants. June to August, regular watering, nettle liquid, weekly picking, removal of flower stems. Mid-July, second sowing for autumn. September, planting the young summer plants in spaces freed by onions or potatoes. October-November, abundant harvest; the leaves sweetened by the first frosts are excellent. December, thick mulch of dead leaves and double fleece over the plants. March, cleaning off damaged leaves and first pickings from the overwintered crown before it flowers in May.

Pick as soon as the outer leaves are 20 to 25 cm long, about eight weeks after sowing, and carry on until the hard frosts. Chard withstands -5 °C without protection and down to -10 °C under a thick fleece or a 20 cm layer of dead leaves: in most of our winters, some of the plants survive and give tender leaves again from mid-March, before flowering in May. A cold frame or low tunnel extends picking all winter. Cut the broad stems and the green separately, as they do not cook at the same rate. For very young salad leaves, sow a cut-and-come-again variety densely and shear to 3 cm every month.