What it is
Swiss Chard (Beta vulgaris cicla) is in the Amaranthaceae (Amaranth) family. The most heat-tolerant of the leafy greens, and gorgeous with rainbow stems. Cut outer leaves all season.
How to grow it
It wants full sun to part shade, water it even, and give it rich soil. Target a soil pH around 6.0–7.0. Space plants about 8–12 in apart. Expect roughly 50–60. Cool & mild seasons; heat-tolerant.
How it's used
Swiss Chard is used: sautéed, soups, raw young.
🔎 How to identify it
- Glossy crinkled leaves
- Bright red/yellow/white stalks
- Grows from a central crown
Edibility
How to grow & propagate swiss chard
Everything I've worked out about starting this one, keeping it alive through a Texas year, and turning one plant into many — free.
How to propagate swiss chard
This family — the amaranths, beets, chard, spinach and their wild cousins — is grown from seed sown right where it'll stand. The grain amaranths and quinoa throw enormous seed heads you can harvest by the handful and re-sow for free. Beets and chard seed are actually little clusters, so each 'seed' can send up several seedlings you'll need to thin.
Growing swiss chard in Texas
Give it full sun to part shade and rich soil. Match the spot to the plant and most of the battle is already won.
Time your planting to our long warm season and watch the frost dates at both ends; the live weather tool on this site is built for exactly that.
In a container it'll dry faster than in the ground, so check the top inch of soil daily in summer; pots on a hot Texas patio can need water every single day.
Harvesting
Figure on roughly 50–60 before you're harvesting. Harvest at peak and keep harvesting — most vegetables produce harder the more you pick, and one left to over-mature tells the plant its job is done. The part you're after: leaves and stalks.
Making more for free
Every seed we sell is open-pollinated, which means you can save your own from the best plants and it'll grow true next year. Let a few of your strongest plants finish and go to seed, dry it fully, and store it cool and dark. That's the whole point of heirlooms — buy once, grow forever.
Part of the free Texas Roots plant database, compiled by Jordan Polasek from his greenhouse in El Campo, Texas. Free to read and share. If it helped, the best thanks is to grow something.