Swiss chard

Swiss chard is biennial and can overwinter in the bed if you protect it: in autumn before the first frost, cut it back to about a hand's breadth above the ground without damaging the heart, and cover it with leaves, straw or brushwood plus horticultural fleece. Green- and white-stemmed varieties are more robust, red- and yellow-stemmed ones need particularly careful covering; in a container, bring the plant into a cool, frost-free room.

You propagate Swiss chard exclusively from seed. Vegetative methods such as cuttings or division are not practical for this species (Swiss chard forms a beet root, no runners and no divisible clumps). You have two ways: start indoors from mid-February to March (2 to 3 cm deep in seed compost, keep evenly moist and warm at around 18 to 20 °C, germination after 8 to 14 days) and plant in the bed after 4 to 6 weeks, as soon as there is no more risk of frost. Or direct sowing from mid-April directly outdoors, as soon as the soil is warm enough (germination starts from about 14 °C, optimal around 18 °C): successional sowing is possible until July, which secures you a long harvest into autumn. An early sowing can be covered with fleece, which speeds up germination. Row spacing 30 to 40 cm, planting distance 30 to 40 cm for stem chard (closer for leaf chard); thin out after emergence. If you want to save your own seed, leave individual strong plants standing and overwinter them under protection (fleece or straw): Swiss chard is biennial, bolts only in the second year, flowers and then forms seed, which is ripe from September and can be stripped from the dried stems. Important: Swiss chard is a wind-pollinated cross-fertiliser and crosses with beetroot as well as fodder and sugar beet. Keep at least 300 m distance from these flowering species or isolate the seed plants under fleece at flowering time. Choose several seed plants (at least around ten) to avoid inbreeding weakness.