What do Chard seedlings look like?
Seedlings have narrow seed leaves and—depending on the type of chard—red, white, yellow, or orange stems. Learn how to grow Swiss chard .
What is Swiss chard and what does it taste like?
Swiss chard is a leafy green vegetable that is closely related to beets and spinach. Like beets and spinach, the leaves are edible, taste great raw as baby greens, and grow up to be a hearty green that can be sauteed into a tasty side dish. Of course, it’s most noticeable feature is its colorful stems!
What are the different types of Chard?
Here are a few of the different kinds of chard you can grow: Rainbow Chard has bright, almost neon, multicoloured stems and green leaves. Peppermint Candy Chard is a fun variety with pink and white stripes on the stems and green leaves. There’s a lot to learn out there about Swiss chard. That’s part of the fun and joy of gardening!
Do Chard plants need space to grow?
Note: Because chard is grown for its leaves, thinning isn’t as important as it is with beets, which need space for their large, round roots to expand. Crowded chard plants just tend to produce smaller leaves. To grow (not merely start) chard indoors, soak seeds for 24 hours in water.
Can baby chard be eaten raw?
Swiss chard leaves can be eaten raw or cooked. Raw Swiss chard is less bitter than cooked.
How do you eat baby chard?
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Can you eat baby Swiss chard?
The Swiss chard plant is a leafy green vegetable that is closely related to beets and spinach. Like beets and spinach, the leaves are edible, taste great raw as baby greens, and grow up to be a hearty green that can be sauteed into a tasty side dish.
What are baby chard leaves?
Baby Green Chard are the delicate leaves of a young chard plant. More delicate and more sweet than their mature counterparts, their flavor is mild and spinach-like. Chard is a nutritional powerhouse packed with vitamins, nutrients and health benefits.
What part of the chard do you eat?
What Part of Chard is Edible? Swiss Chard is entirely edible, including the leaves and stems. The stems need a little more cooking time than the leaves because they have a lot of cellulose that needs to soften for longer. The leaves cook quickly.
Are Swiss chard stems poisonous?
Rainbow Swiss chard is often, but not always, red, while ruby red Swiss chard always has red stalks. Packed with vitamins A, C and K, it contains oxalic acid, which can affect the body's absorption of calcium. It can even cause kidney stones if consumed in great amounts, according to WebMD.
Does Swiss chard grow back every year?
Swiss chard is a biennial, so it will grow for two years, surviving the winters in areas where temperatures do not dip below 15 degrees F. After the second year of growth, your chard plant will start to produce seed and it will not grow back the following year.
Is rainbow chard safe to eat raw?
I didn't want to compromise those beautiful colors in any way, so I just sliced up the stems and shredded the greens for a beautiful salad. Wait, can you eat rainbow chard raw? You can absolutely eat chard raw, the same way you would eat kale or spinach raw.
How do you pick chard so it keeps growing?
'To pick chard so it keeps growing, cut off the outer leaves 1.5 to 2 inches (4-5cm) above the ground while they are young and tender – about 8 to 12 inches (20-31cm) long. Older leaves can be stripped off the plants and discarded to allow the young leaves to continue to grow,' says Funk.
Is chard and kale the same thing?
The leaves of the two vegetables are similar in texture: crinkled, crunchy, and dark green. Both are best with leaves removed from the stem, though chard stems can be cooked to tender, whereas kale stems will not tenderize and are best discarded. The taste is the biggest difference.
What part of Rainbow Chard is edible?
Rainbow chard is an assortment of different varieties, with stalks of red, pink, orange, yellow and white. The colors will fade somewhat in the cooking process, but boy are they pretty to look at when uncooked! Chard stems take a little longer to cook than the leaves, but the whole plant is edible and delicious.
Is chard and spinach the same?
You can also tell spinach apart from chard based on tiny differences in their appearance. According to Wynlen House, spinach has smaller, softer leaves than chard, along with thinner, greener stems compared to chard's thick, white-tinged ones.
Is raw chard good for you?
Swiss chard is a nutritional powerhouse -- an excellent source of vitamins K, A, and C, as well as a good source of magnesium, potassium, iron, and dietary fiber.
How do you eat Swiss chard?
Chard can be steamed or sauteed, and it's great in soups, stews, casseroles, frittatas and quiches. Young leaves can be eaten raw in salads. Chard always has green leaves, but the stalks can be a variety of colors.
How do you take care of chard?
Plants tolerate heat well as long as you keep them properly watered. Growing Swiss chard works best in rich, moist soil with a soil pH between 6.0 and 6.8. Plant about 12 to 18 inches apart in fertile soil, watering directly after planting.
How fast does chard grow?
Swiss chard grows fast, and it is usually ready to harvest four to six weeks after planting. One crop planting can supply leaves for months. Begin harvesting when the plant reaches 9 inches tall, though the tender baby leaves can be used in fresh salads.
Buying, Cooking, and Recipes
Danilo Alfaro has published more than 800 recipes and tutorials focused on making complicated culinary techniques approachable to home cooks.
What Is Chard?
Chard is perhaps most commonly referred to as Swiss chard (which is one varietal), and it's related to beets. Chard greens look similar to beet greens, but unlike beets, the root of chard is inedible. The green leaves have a grooved, bumpy texture running up a colorful, thick stem. Both parts are edible, but they do cook at different rates.
How to Cook With Chard
Younger chard leaves can be eaten raw in dishes like salads. The more mature leaves are tougher and best served cooked. As with collard greens and kale, it's best to remove the stems and ribs from the centers of the leaves because they can be tough and fibrous.
What Does It Taste Like?
Chard's flavor is comparable to spinach, although this depends on what cooking technique is used. It can be bitter, especially Swiss chard. Cooking tends to diminish the bitterness so that its earthy, sweet, almost beetlike flavor is more pronounced.
Chard Recipes
Chard makes an appearance in a variety of dishes and is just as versatile as spinach. It's used in salads, stir-fries, soups, casseroles, and dumpling recipes.
Where to Buy Chard
When bunches of rainbow chard are available, they're easy to spot among the leafy greens in a produce market. Many grocers do carry some variety of chard, especially during the summer, which is chard's peak season. A bunch will likely cost more than spinach or lettuce—it's typically grouped with specialty greens like kale.
Storage
For the best storage results, separate the leaves and stems, storing the two separately for up to one week in the refrigerator. For the leaves, lay them out on paper towels, then roll them into a bundle before sealing in a plastic bag. The stems can also be wrapped in plastic.
Mountains of Swiss Chard at the Store
Swiss chard has grown popular—very popular, if the amount of refrigerated space allotted to it in our local organic supermarket is an indicator. I was there last week on a hopeless quest for mustard greens.
Hidden Danger: Oxalate
Swiss chard is a hot trend! It has joined the ranks of kale and spinach as top sellers in the fresh greens department. Too bad. Swiss chard is loaded with a natural toxin called oxalate. Just one half-cup of steamed white-stalked swiss chard has about 500 mg of oxalate and ½ cup of steamed red swiss chard has over 900 mg of oxalate.
Ignoring a Brain Toxin
Until 2009, I paid no attention oxalates in my foods. I did not know or care that I routinely ate foods loaded with oxalate. I never connected my weird symptoms of nightly hiccups, belching, restless legs, and poor sleep to my diet. Why would I suspect my diet? I was eating fresh, whole, healthy foods—all the time, every day.
The Danger of Innocence
My ignorance about the oxalate content of foods and about the toxic potential of oxalate in foods left me at risk for self-inflicted poisoning. That turned out badly for me, and for my husband. As a last resort, I corrected this dietary mistake and was surprised at the results as we each recovered effortlessly from chronic health conditions.
Healthy, Safer Greens
If you want to avoid accidental harm from oxalate, drop the swiss chard, beet greens, and spinach. And tell the produce manager you would buy mustard greens (6 mg oxalate per ½ cup steamed) and other low-oxalate produce, if only they would stock them.
Rest Well
What mustard greens and romaine lettuce lack in hipness and glamor, they make up for by letting you sleep at night!
What is Swiss Chard?
Swiss chard (also known just simply as chard) is a leafy green vegetable related to beets and spinach.
What Does Swiss Chard Look Like?
The leaves are large and dark green, with pronounced ribbing, httand sometimes the stalks will be all one color, usually red or white, and sometimes they will be a blend of colors, with stems of red, pink, orange, yellow and white. This variety is usually called Rainbow Chard or Bright Lights Swiss Chard for obvious reasons.
How Do I Buy Swiss Chard?
You can find Swiss chard in the produce section of supermarkets, usually near the kale, collard greens, or other sturdy lettuces. It is often sold in bunches. Look for firm, brightly colored stems, and leaves that are glossy and smooth, without any brown or yellow spots.
How Do You Cook Swiss Chard?
You can use the entire leaf, the green leafy part and the stems. The stems take a little longer to cook than the leaves, but the whole thing is edible, and delicious, a little bit sweet in the stems (which have a slightly celery-like flavor), and a little bit bitter in the leaves.
How Do I Store Swiss Chard?
Store chard wrapped in slightly damp paper towels, then tucked into an open plastic bag, where it will last for up to 3 days.
When is Chard in Season?
Chard’s main growing season starts in May and then goes through the summer, but it is readily available year round.
Is Swiss Chard Nutritious?
Chard is rich in vitamins A, C and especially K, as well as a good source of magnesium, iron and potassium.
First Leaves vs. True Leaves
The first two leaves that many vegetable seedling put forth are called cotyledons ( seed leaves ), which do not pattern themselves after the leaves of the mature plant. They mainly serve as “snack packs”—energy bars for the infant plant to consume so that it can put forth its own true leaves.
Beans (Pole and Bush)
The bean seedling’s first seed leaves often appear to be heart-shaped. Its true leaves will be smooth-edged and arranged three to a stem, with two opposite each other and one above. Learn how to grow beans.
Beets
With proper watering, beet seedlings will emerge in five days to two weeks after planting. Young beets put forth smooth, oblong green leaves on red or pinkish/purple stems. Because several seedlings can grow from one beet “seed,” you may need to thin them by snipping some off at ground level. Learn how to grow beets.
Broccoli (and Cauliflower)
Broccoli and cauliflower seedlings produce two kidney-shaped seed leaves before their true leaves, which are more rounded and may have vaguely serrated edges. Learn how to grow broccoli and cauliflower.
Carrots
Carrot seedlings in the earliest stages may be mistaken for grass because their seed leaves, unlike some other vegetable cotyledons, are tall and thin. A young carrot’s true leaves, shown below, have a distinctive, fern-like shape. Learn how to grow carrots.
Cucumbers
The oval seed leaves of emerging cucumber and squash plants look very much alike, but the cucumber’s true leaves will be triangular and lobed with a fuzzy surface and serrated (toothy) edges. As the cucumber vine develops, its delicate-looking but tenacious tendrils will grip and climb anything in their path. Learn how to grow cucumbers.
Kale
Kale comes in many varieties, with true leaves that may be either smooth or fancily ruffled. Its seed leaves may peek above the soil in about a week and the plants should be thinned to a foot apart when they reach five inches tall. The benefit of thinning kale is that you can enjoy the snipped seedlings in a salad! Learn how to grow kale.