table of contents
- Chard varieties
- Chard leaf
- Stalked chard
- To harvest
- Harvest time
Harvesting Swiss chard is easy and possible for a long time, because with technology, the leafy vegetables grow back again and again. But when is the best harvest time for the crop rich in vital substances? We reveal what is important when harvesting the different varieties and how the vegetables can be brought to the table fresh and tasty for months.
Chard varieties
Chard leaf
With chard leaves, it takes just eight to ten weeks from sowing to harvest. Those who sowed in April can therefore expect the first yields as early as June. As long as the heart of the chard leaf is not injured, it continues to sprout anew. So the harvest time is not limited.
To harvest the leafy vegetables, leaves are broken off individually about two to three fingers wide above the ground or cut off with a knife or scissors. It is harvested from the outside in.
Stalked chard
The long-handled chard, also known as rib chard, can also be sown from April. However, it takes ten to twelve weeks for it to be ready for harvest. With this chard, the first yields can be expected from the end of June or the beginning of July if it is sown in good time.
The leaves are also broken off or cut off again. However, the distance to the root may be even smaller than with chard leaf. The ideal is to cut the leaves as close to the ground as possible. Care must be taken that the heart of the plant is not injured. If the leaves are removed individually and from the outside in, this is relatively easy to do.
To harvest
Young harvest leaves
Regardless of whether it is leaf or rib chard - young, tender leaves are always milder in taste and contain fewer bitter substances. The cooking of leafy vegetables can also be kept shorter and gentler here. Leaves that are about ten centimeters long are ideal. Incidentally, this length also shows that the vegetables are ready to be harvested.
Always harvest when you need it
Chard wrapped in a damp cloth can be kept in the refrigerator for about two days. The more time there is between the harvest and the preparation of the leafy vegetables, the more the vital substance content of the chard decreases. In addition, it changes in taste.
It is therefore optimal to harvest Swiss chard as required and only cut off what can be used immediately. However, if the harvest season ends in autumn or winter, the leaves can also be blanched and frozen. In this way, even particularly large yields can be preserved and used for longer periods of time.
Harvest time
Harvest time until frost
Since Swiss chard grows back as long as the heart has not been injured, it can be brought back to the table as a fresh vegetable over and over again for months. Only with the onset of frost does growth come to a standstill.
If you want to add fresh chard leaves to your menu for the next year, you have to protect the plants accordingly.
The following are suitable for this:
- fleece
- jute
- leaves
- straw
- Twigs, spruce twigs are ideal
- Bast mats
It is ideal - especially in severe winters or cool climates - to combine the different materials. For example, piling up leaves and brushwood on the rootstock and then spreading one or more layers of fleece, jute or bast mats over them.
Harvest in the second year
If chard is properly protected in winter, it is two years old. The harvest time can therefore extend over another season. However, the chard plants develop flowers in the second year of standing. With the onset of flowering, the leaves become very bitter.
They can still be consumed because, unlike other plants, they are not poisonous. However, the taste during and after flowering is perceived by many as unpleasant. It is therefore advisable, as well as before the onset of frost, to harvest the remaining leaves before the flowering phase and to use them immediately or to freeze them blanched.