Page 24 - ALG Issue 3 2019
P. 24

  vegetable...
chard
Swiss chard, perpetual spinach and rainbow chard, Beta vulgaris cicla
This leafy vegetable is in the same species as beetroot except that it lacks the swollen, edible storage root. The first varieties of this popular leafy vegetable have been traced to Sicily. Fresh, young chard can be used raw in salads. Mature chard leaves and stalks are typically cooked or sautéed. Their bitterness fades with cooking, leaving a refined flavour which is more delicate than that of cooked spinach.
VARIETIES TO CHOOSE
(SOLD BY KINGS SEEDS): - Perpetual Spinach (AGM) - Not a
true spinach but used in exactly the same way. Does not run to seed in
dry conditions and is winter hardy. Produces a mass of mid-green leaves with thin stems. Also known as Spinach Beet.
Rainbow Chard - brings colour to your vegetable garden. A lovely mixture of various coloured stem and leaves that can be used as baby leaf for salads or delicious cooked when fully grown. Swiss Chard - sometimes called Seakale Beet. Use the deep green leaves in place of spinach. The white mid-ribs are delicious when cooked like asparagus.
Leaf beet is raised from seed. The seed is sown in the open ground from March to April. It has corky skin just the same as round beet and it will help to speed up germination if the seed is soaked in warm water for a couple of hours before sowing. This is extremely
beneficial during hot, dry conditions. The seed is sown in rows that are 18ins/45cms apart in drills that are 3⁄4 in/2cms deep. The seed can either be sprinkled along the row to be thinned out later or 2 or 3 seeds space sown and thinned down to one seedling after germination. The final spacing between plants is 6in/15cms for smaller leaves and 12ins/30cms if larger leaves are required.
After the seedlings have been thinned, it is important never to let the plants dry out. They must be watered regularly and they will always benefit from
the addition of liquid seaweed to the
Hoe regularly around the plants to control weeds
watering can. Hoe regularly around the plants to control weeds and to create dust mulch. Remove any damaged leaves and cut out any flowering spikes if they appear. Water the growing plants regularly to keep the leaves succulent.
For the smaller leaves they must be picked when they are the size of a tablespoon and for the larger leaves
           24 Allotment and Leisure Gardener


















































































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