Swiss Chard ‘bright lights’

Super pretty, super tasty. One of my most favourite veggies.

Chard with rainbow coloured stems, an absolute knockout for colour in the veggie patch.

Sow seed  indoors into modules or direct into prepared ground  for indoor winter leaves.  Sow into modules or seed trays or small pots and cover with a light covering of compost. Seeds are a bit like beetroot, that is one seed may produce 3 or 4 seedlings. Once germinated, prick out into modules if you have sown into a seed tray, until ready to plant out in approx 4 weeks from sowing. Its best sown in warm weather as it can flower if subjected to temperature fluctuations. You can sow direct into the ground too so if you want to follow this method, prepare your ground and rake the surface lightly to a fine tilth. Make drills approx. 30 cm apart and 1 cm deep, water well before sowing. Sow thinly along the drills with an aim to thin out later. Cover with approx. 1cm compost and frim down lightly, water gently so as not to dislodge the seed and keep moist. Once seedlings have appeared you can thin them to approx. 20-30cm apart if harvesting for leaves you can leave them more crowded but if you want a bigger plant, then space out wider.  

Keep watered in dry weather as dislikes being dry and may be prone to bolting. For the first couple of weeks don’t let them dry out, keep well-watered and you’ll find you get stronger plants that way.