Spinach bolts in the spring, brassicas become bitter when hot weather arrives, but Swiss chard and a few other vegetables can provide fresh, tasty, succulent greens through the summer with little effort, and very few troubles. Chard (Beta vulgaris cicla) is related to beets and like them, is a biennial. Hence it will not flower until the second year after planting. And so it can provide fresh greens all summer and fall, until halted by hard frosts. Even then, the root maybe survive and regrow the next spring.
   
Varieties
Swiss chard is available in several shades of green, a mix of rainbow shades, and various selections of a single color. The white-stemmed, green-leafed varieties are more productive, as they have more chlorophyll than the colored-leaf kinds. They are also less likely to bolt under stress. ‘Fordhook Giant’ is the workhorse, the most easily found variety. It has thick savoyed (crinkled) leaves, and is very bolt resistant. Some growers have other favorites. ‘Lucullus’ has a more tender leaf and a lighter shade of green. ‘Monstruoso’ has very broad stalks. ‘Large White Ribbed’ is said to be more productive but not quite as tender.  Red kinds seem to have a stronger flavor, closer to beet greens, and perhaps because of that, are less troubled by leaf miners. Red varieties, however, are more likely to bolt if subjected to prolonged periods below 50°F, followed by extended dry conditions. ‘Charlotte’ resists bolting better than ‘Rhubarb’, and is more productive, with broader stems. ‘Bright Lights’ and ‘Rainbow’ are two varieties of multi-colored chard. ‘Bright Lights’ has thinner stems and brighter colors than ‘Rainbow’.
   
Crop requirements
Although it can be sown earlier and used as a spring crop, chard really comes into its own if sown later in spring, to mature as spinach finishes up. It takes only about 50 days from sowing to mature.

Chard needs a soil rich in organic matter if it is to crank out large quantities of healthy leaves. It is an easy crop, able to grow in partial shade or full sun. It will grow in clay or sandy soils. It does need regular watering throughout the season: water stress could cause bolting if the weather has been cool. If yield drops, consider side-dressing with compost, soybean meal, cottonseed meal or alfalfa meal. Or foliar feed with kelp or fish emulsion. Nitrogen is the vital ingredient for growing luxuriant tender chard. Be careful (as always) not to over-do it, or the colors of the stems will fade.

Sowing
For a summer crop, we sow in plug flats or soil blocks around April 6, two weeks before our last frost date. We like the Winstrip 50 cell open-bottomed plug flats best for this crop. Using transplants enables us to get an earlier crop from the future chard bed, or at least grow a good winter cover crop, before putting the bed into production.

Each “seed” is actually a dried fruit containing several seeds, just like a beet seed, so you’ll likely get several seedlings in each cell. When the seedlings are a few inches tall, single them to one per cell by snipping off the extras.

If you want chard earlier, you can start flats earlier, or direct seed two or three weeks before the last frost, around the same time you sow beets and carrots. 1 ounce of seed will sow 50 feet. Sow about 6 seeds per foot, 1/2-inch deep, in rows 12-24 inches apart. Closer spacing provides smaller leaves, and so is better for salads. As they grow, the plants can be thinned gradually until 12 inches apart. The thinnings are an excellent salad crop.

It’s also possible in warmer areas to sow chard for a fall crop. This might be a useful Plan B if some other crops have failed. Or for people living in very hot areas, who want fresh tender leaves, and have no hope of anything but tough leaves in the summer.

Transplanting
We plant our chard out around April 29-May 6, at three or four weeks old. We transplant into beds already mulched with rolled-out bales of spoiled hay, making “nests” through the hay down to soil level, at 12-inch spacing. The plants will grow large, so we put only two rows in a 4-foot bed (with 1-foot paths). The mulch controls weeds and keeps the soil cooler and damper through the summer.
   
Pests and diseases
Chard generally has few pests and diseases. One disease we have had some trouble with is Cercospora, a fungus which grows as small round tan or brown spots on the leaves. (Look for a purplish halo, or take a hand lens and look for black fruiting spores in the centers of the spots). We remove the affected leaves to a hot compost pile and hope for the best. Fusarium wilt can cause seedlings to wilt and shrivel, or older plants to wilt and turn yellow. Slugs can be a bother in cool climates, but less so in summer. Root-knot nematodes have caused trouble in Florida. Crop rotation helps avoid nematodes. Flea beetles have been reported on chard in Pennsylvania. Leaf Miners may be seen in northern areas. Use row covers in spring when the miner flies are most active, or against flea beetle.

Harvest
Chard will reach maturity in about 60 days from sowing, so that’s the end of May for us, right when the last spinach is bolting. Chard is picked as individual leaves, and sold as bunches. We pick into tall buckets, and add an inch of cold water to help keep the leaves from wilting. Pull the stems outward and twist low down, or cut with a knife, to avoid leaving stubs which will “cage in” the developing stems and also take energy for the plant to maintain, to no good use. Remove any inedible tough leaves as you harvest, and place them around the plants to top up the mulch, unless the leaves are diseased.

Towards fall, it is possible to extend the growing season by allowing the outer leaves to get large, protecting the heart of the plant, while you harvest the younger inner leaves (making sure not to damage the growing point).

Post-harvest
Chard needs quick cooling after harvest, and refrigerated storage. It stores well as a frozen vegetable, if carefully blanched for 3 minutes, chilled, drained, and frozen in air-tight containers.

Cooking and nutrition
For best results, the thick stems are chopped to 1-inch lengths and set to cook while the leaves are chopped, and added a few minutes later. The stems could also be cooked and served separately – they do take a little longer to cook than the leaves. Only light cooking is needed for the leaves.

Chard is noted for vitamins A, B, C, and the minerals sodium, calcium, potassium and iron. People on a low-sodium diet might want to steer away from eating lots of chard, as it has the highest sodium content of all vegetables, although I don’t know how it compares with other foods.

Overwintering
If you want to keep chard in good condition over winter, either cover with hoops and row-covers (in milder areas, zone 6 or warmer), or else mulch heavily right over the top of the plant, after cutting off the leaves in early winter.

Seed saving
If you want to save seed, you’ll have a long wait as chard is biennial. Chard crosses with beets, so don’t try to grow seed of both. The isolation distance for chard is 600 feet for seed for home use, 0.25-0.5 miles for commercial seed. Grow 40-200 plants for seed to avoid in-breeding depression, which comes from selecting too few of an out-crossing (not self-pollinating) crop. When the plants start to grow again in the second year, thin them to 2 feet apart. When they reach 18 inches tall, cut them back to 12 inches tall, to encourage shorter, branched plants and multiple seed heads. The seed ripens upwards from the bottom of the plants. Pull them up when the tips still contain green seed, but parts of the branches have ripe seed. To prevent seed shattering, pull them in the early morning, when still dew-covered. Cut off the roots and hang the plants under cover upside down, until fully dried out. Strip the seed by hand and clean by threshing over an inclined canvas that allows seed to roll to the bottom while trash is left behind.

Other spinach substitutes
Leaf beet, also known as Perpetual Spinach, is the closest to real spinach in appearance and flavor. It is a kind of chard with narrow green stems and plentiful glossy green leaves, which are generally smaller than other chard leaves.

Some of these spinach substitutes look a bit like real spinach, and some taste similar. Others are fairly different, but are cooked and eaten in the same ways as spinach. All are warm weather crops, so wait till the soil temperature is at least 60°F before direct sowing. If sown in mid-June, they can follow an earlier crop such as lettuce or peas.

Beet Greens are a tasty and colorful vegetable for cooking. Beets grown for the roots may have the leaves used for greens, or beets may be sown solely to supply leaves in warmer weather, when the roots would be too tough to use. Beet seed may be pre-sprouted in the fridge, to get around the difficulty of outdoor sowing when hot. Catalog descriptions can help you decide which beet varieties offer the most promise as greens.

Unlike the other spinach substitutes listed below, beets are biennial and will not bolt in the summer. The crops below will resist heat to quite an extent, but may eventually flower and set seed. Planting a succession is a way to get around this problem.

New Zealand Spinach (Tetragonia expansa, Tetragonia tetragonioides) does indeed come from New Zealand. This plant is salt tolerant and will even grow in sand. It is a sprawling bushy plant with small, fleshy, triangular leaves. Thin to at least 6 inches apart. It is very slow to germinate, and needs hot weather to really get going. Regular trimming encourages lush growth. If it seeds, you’ll get lots of plants the following year. The flavor is very mild – I rate this one as not particularly like spinach.

Malabar Spinach (Basella alba, Basella rubra) is a vining plant, with crinkled heart-shaped leaves on green or red vines. It will need trellising and will reward you with its attractive appearance. It is little troubled by pests, and will produce an abundance of moderately small leaves, looking like real spinach, in two months from sowing. Thin to at least 6 inches apart and to promote a more branched plant, pinch out the central shoot after the second set of leaves. This tropical plant is from Asia and Africa. The taste is slightly seaweedy (it’s also known as “land kelp”).

Amaranth is a family of food plants (Amaranthus) found across the globe. There are two basic types: seed amaranths, used as a grain, and leaf amaranths, of which several varieties are sold. Leaf amaranth is also known as Calaloo. Some are very attractive, looking like coleus. Thin to at least 6 inches apart and when the plants reach 6-8 inches, pinch out the tops to get bushier plants. The crop is ready 50 days after sowing. Some people say that amaranth should not be eaten raw, but I have failed to discover why, and others recommend it as salad. It is tasty steamed or stir-fried. Leaves are tender and the flavor is somewhat nutty and sweet.

Aztec Red Spinach (Chenopodium berlanderi) is related to true spinach. An attractive red and green plant which is known in Mexico as huauzontle, this crop can make a dramatic statement in the vegetable garden. It can grow to 8-12 feet tall, although it is a skinny plant, not bulky. Aztecs grew it between rows of corn. Thin to 15 inches apart. Each plant can produce a pound of colorful leaves, which steam in just one minute, and keep their color when cooked. Hot weather increases productivity, while cooler fall weather increases the color intensity of the red leaves.

Orach is a member of the same Chenopodium family as true spinach, and comes in several green, red and purple color schemes. Botanically it is Atriplex hortensis. It can be hard to transplant, and likes plenty of water. This ornamental is also salt-tolerant. The plants produce small leaves, and set seed liberally, although it is not usually invasive. Thin to 6 inches apart. Nowadays Orach has a new role as baby leaves in elegant salad mixes, but it can also be grown to full size and eaten steamed. The flavor is good, and the color is retained after cooking.

Good King Henry  (Chenopodium bonus-henricus) also known as Mercury or Lincolnshire Spinach, has thick long-stemmed, arrow-shaped leaves. It is a hardy perennial that vigorously self-seeds. It is rich in vitamins A & C, and calcium.

Magenta Lamb’s-quarters (Chenopodium giganteum) has leaves of a lovely magenta color.  It has a mild flavor raw or cooked. This is basically a giant weed, which grows to 6 feet and re-seeds readily, so keep it from seeding if you don’t want an invasion.

Strawberry Spinach/ Beetberry Greens (Chenopodium capitatum). This is an ancient plant from Europe, which has been rediscovered at various monasteries. It is similar to lambs quarters in habit, but only 18 inches tall. The triangular, toothed leaves are thinner than spinach, very nutritious. and high in vitamins.  Like other Chenopodiaceae, it may re-seed vigorously and become invasive.

Sources for seed

Wild Garden Seeds; www.wildgardenseed.com; 541-929-4068; two chards, two leaf beets, five amaranths, ‘Magentaspreen’ Giant Goosefoot, Huauzontle ‘Red Aztec Spinach’and four orachs.

Johnny’s Selected Seeds;  www.johnnyseeds.com; 877-564-6697. Six chards, green and red amaranth, Garnet Red Amaranth and Oracle Orach for salad micro-mix.

Seeds from Italy;  www.growitalian.com; 781-721-5904; five chards.

Bountiful Gardens; www.bountifulgardens.org; three chards, perpetual spinach/leaf beet, three amaranths, Good King Henry, Magenta Lambsquarters, Malabar spinach, New Zealand spinach, Red Orach, strawberry spinach/beetberry, and also an information sheet: “More About Amaranth and Quinoa”.

Baker Creek; www.rareseeds.com;  417-924 -8917; six chards, five leaf amaranths, two orach, New Zealand spinach, strawberry spinach/beetberry.

Fedco Seeds; www.fedcoseeds.com; six chards, leaf beet/perpetual spinach, New Zealand spinach, Good King Henry, two amaranths, Triple Purple Orach.

Pinetree Garden Seeds; www.superseeds.com; 207-926-3400; seven chards, one amaranth, Malabar spinach, New Zealand spinach.

Territorial Seeds; www.territorialseed.com; 800-626-0866;  five chards, perpetual spinach/leaf beet, Malabar spinach, New Zealand spinach, one amaranth, one orach, beetberry/strawberry spinach.

Turtle Tree Seeds;  www.turtletreeseeds.com; 800-620-7388; five chards, burgundy amaranth, red orach.

Gourmet Seed International; www.gourmetseed.com; 505-398-6111; 11 varieties of chard, and also leaf leet/perpetual spinach.

Pam Dawling manages the vegetable gardens for Twin Oaks Community in central Virginia. The gardens supply the 100 residents with almost all of their fresh and processed vegetables. She can be reached at pam@twinoaks.org.