CHARD

Calling all newbie gardeners and anyone starting out on an allotment or with a bit of space to grow some plants of food - one of my life learnings is.. ‘grow-your-own isn’t hard when it comes to growing chard’!

It’s been a long time since I wrote about my veg patch - mainly because the veg patch, which absolutely blossomed over lockdown, has never made a full recovery since having children. However the last couple of foggy baby rearing years have left me with a few veggies that I’ll never not grow. While patiently waiting out broccoli and cabbages to form, checking carrots for whitefly and lettuces for slugs is something I no longer have time for, I’ve come to learn that chard aka Swiss Chard aka Silver Beet is the gift that keeps on giving.

I only sow seeds once (see why below!) indoors during the cold dark days of spring - find organic seeds here. Or, as has been the case the last two years, I pick up a box of seedlings at my local carboot. I pop them in the ground around April time and within 4 weeks I can already start harvesting a couple of leaves from each plant once a week. I recommend growing roughly 6 - 8 plants for two people and occasional guests. I don’t do large amounts of these leafy greens because they are high in oxalates (more below). You might need to feed your soil - I put homemade compost on mine over winter, but other than that I find them very easy to grow - as long as you make sure they are watered during those long periods of sun and no rain. They are heat tolerant and pretty frost tolerant. Around the time I put them in the ground I use one dose of nematodes to protect the young seedlings from slugs and snails and then they are pretty ok once established. They grow so quickly and look so pretty - especially if you get the multicoloured stalk varieties, and brighten and freshen any store cupboard suppers.

For the last few years (especially this last mild winter) I’ve been able to harvest all year round from those same plants. Chard is known as a ‘cut and come again’ leafy green (along with others like lettuce, rocket, parsley, spinach and basil) because a single plant can be harvested over a very long period. Some say months but my experience thus far has been nearly all year around! In fact I only just discarded last year's chard that had gone to flower and then seed, a month or so ago. Though the leaves weren’t as big and the stems not as juicy as the summer/autumn croppings - the fact that I could be rustling up dinner in late winter and just pop out and grab a handful of fresh greens for no extra growing work made the planting of my seedlings in late spring the year before and making sure they were watered on hot summer days even more worthwhile.

Buying chard off the shelf / at your local market can be expensive - as you can imagine they are not robust for picking, storing and shipping and are usually found in plastic bags in the supermarket and might even have been sprayed with something to keep them looking good. Growing your own means 0km travel, prana packed and you can taste the sunshine. Imagine the freshness, the goodness, the savings, the satisfaction.

You can use chard wherever you would use spinach, spring greens and in some kale dishes. While similar to spinach, chard is easier to grow as it's less likely to go to seed in dry weather. Chard has significantly more Vitamins E, C and K than spinach, while spinach has more iron. I always cook my chard and similar leafy greens - no raw for me - as per Ayurveda. Raw greens can be tough on the digestive system, especially for individuals with weak digestion. Cooking makes them much easier to digest. It not only breaks down the cellulose, making the nutrients more accessible and easier for the body to assimilate, but many raw greens contain anti-nutrients like oxalates and phytates, which can interfere with the absorption of essential minerals. Cooking reduces the levels of these compounds, enhancing the nutritional value of the greens. So whether soups, stews, stir fried or baked, I adore the leaves tender and the stalks with a little bit of a bite.

Here are 15 recipes for inspiration on cooking chard at home:

COCONUT, SQUASH, LENTIL AND LEEK CURRY WITH RAINBOW CHARD

KITCHARI WITH CAVOLO NERO,
LEMON, ONION AND CAPERS

TAMARIND COURGETTE AND PARSNIP CURRY ON CAULIFLOWER 'RICE'

CREOLE-INSPIRED BLACK-EYED BEANS AND 'COLLARDS'

Jasmine HemsleyJuly 18, 2024