Mangold: everything for growing, harvesting & storage

He althy vegetables are becoming more popular with us again. Here's everything you need to know about growing and harvesting chard.

Mangold (Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris) has long been a rarity on the vegetable shelf and also in the garden. Leafy greens have only become more common in recent years. And rightly so, because chard not only tastes good and is he althy, it is also extremely decorative in the garden bed. In addition, it is extremely easy to grow, so everyone in the garden can enjoy chard from their own harvest. In this article, we will tell you everything about the origin, different varieties, cultivation, care and harvesting of Swiss chard, so that the cultivation is also successful for you.

Even if you don't immediately recognize it from the appearance: Swiss chard is a cultivated form of the beet (Beta vulgaris) and thus belongs to the goosefoot family (Chenopodiaceae ). Close relatives are, for example, beetroot (Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris var. conditiva) or sugar beet (Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris var. altissima). In the past, botanists did not always agree on the correct name for chard, which has led to many, mostly curious, alternative names. In English one speaks of "Swiss Chard", whereby this term can be derived from the Latin word for "thistle", "carduus". However, chard has nothing to do with thistles. Other terms such as "Perpetual Spinach" or "Roman cabbage" also make little sense. The chard has long since shed its negatively connoted name "poor man's asparagus".

Origin and properties of chard

Chard is an ancient crop and originally comes from the Near East. It soon spread throughout the Mediterranean, where the ancient Greeks and Romans not only appreciated its delicious taste, but also its usefulness as a medicinal plant. For example, it was used as a remedy for gastrointestinal complaints or anemia. The colorful leafy vegetable reached Central Europe as early as late antiquity and was one of the most important therevegetable plants. It became particularly popular because it was a good substitute for spinach (Spinacia oleracea) in summer.

For us, however, chard has been increasingly forgotten since frozen spinach became available year-round, while in southern parts of the world chard has never lost its popularity. Only in the last few years has chard experienced an upswing - meanwhile no longer only among gourmets or particularly he alth-conscious people. Some of you may have come across chard in the salad mix from the supermarket, because it is increasingly being offered as a baby leaf salad.

Chard is a biennial plant that only flowers in the second year. It grows as a basal rosette and has long-stalked leaves up to 30 centimeters long. Depending on the variety, the leaves and stems can vary in color and be wrinkled or smooth. The flowers are rather inconspicuous and green on the approximately one centimeter long stem. The seeds are arranged in a ball, each ball contains two to five seeds.

Chard varieties

The chard varieties can be mainly divided into the two groups Cicla and Flavescens : Cut chard and stick chard.

Cut or leaf chard belongs to the Cicla group and grows similar to spinach. This genus will sprout again after harvesting. With the end of winter, the leaf chard is one of the very first vegetables to sprout again and thus provides fresh vegetables from our own garden in good time. Most chard plants from the Cicla group can also be grown wonderfully on the balcony or terrace.

The Swiss chard, on the other hand, belongs to the Flavescens group. Its stems are significantly longer and stronger compared to the Cicla group. The plants also grow a lot faster and develop strongly ribbed leaf veins.

In addition to the diversity of the chard groups, there is also the color variety of the individual varieties. The color spectrum ranges from pale light and dark green to red and orange to yellow and purple nuances. The surface of the leaves can be smooth, wavy or uneven. Below we have listed some well-known chard varieties for your home garden.

Leaf chard varieties:

• 'Charlie': A very special leafy chard with green leaves and dark red stems; verydecorative, can also be used as a baby leaf salad
• 'Green Cut': A cut chard variety that produces fine, delicate green leaves; it is undemanding and can be harvested for a long time
• 'Verde da taglio': This leaf chard variety has bright green leaves that taste particularly tender; it is frost hardy and the young leaves can also be eaten as a salad

Mangold varieties with white stems:

• 'Fordhook Giant': One of the faster growing chard varieties with a height of up to 100 centimeters (in good cultivation conditions); white, very broad stems with green and strongly ruffled leaves; tried and tested and very tasty variety
• 'Genfer Krautstiel': Robust Swiss chard variety that overwinters well outdoors and produces tasty leafy greens in early spring; extremely wide, white petioles with green, ruffled leaves
• 'Glatter Silber': A classic stemmed chard with broad, silvery-white stems and dark green leaves; extremely robust and productive
• 'Jessica': This stem chard variety produces heavy, strong plants; the growth is compact and the plants are 30 to 40 centimeters high
• 'Lucullus': variety with thin, white stems and a high proportion of leaves; particularly tender and can also be used as a salad if harvested early
• 'Walliser': variety with white, broad stems and light green foliage; tall variety with good bolting resistance; extremely tasty
• 'White Silver': Swiss chard variety with broad, silver-white stems and dark green foliage; should be particularly rich in vitamins; good flavor

Mangold varieties with colorful stems:

• 'Bright Lights': Non-hardy varieties; Differences in shape and color (not a pure variety, but a seed mix in a bag of different varieties)
• 'Bright Yellow': Popular variety with bright, deep yellow, quite broad stems; green leaves; resistant and robust growth
• 'Feurio': Bright red stems; green leaves with a slight red tinge; very aromatic and tasty
• ‘Pirol’: This variety is ideal for lovers of the yellow color - the stalks of the chard are bright yellow, while the leaves are green with yellow veins
• 'Rainbow Chard': Different colors and shapes (not a pure variety, but a seed mix in a bag of different varieties)
• 'Rhubarb Chard': Beautiful chard variety with deep redstems and dark red-green leaves; very aromatic

Tip: Meanwhile, some chard varieties are also planted as ornamental plants in domestic beds, because the bright yellow, orange or red colored stalks are a real feast for the eyes. As an ornament, the chard is often grown biennially.

Buy chard: You should pay attention to this

You can buy both young plants and seeds for Swiss chard in stores. Anyone who grows their own chard plants with seeds saves money and can usually choose from a larger selection of varieties. However, be sure to check the expiration date when purchasing. Swiss chard seeds lose their ability to germinate over time. Seeds from organic production can be found at Bingenheimer Saatgut or Dreschflegel. The seed house also offers a large selection of conventional and organic chard seeds. Anyone who decides to buy young plants saves time and work. You can buy chard plants in nurseries, garden centers and, with a bit of luck, also at the weekly market. When buying, you should make sure that the plants are he althy and make a strong impression.

What should you look out for when buying chard plants?

• Suitable type
• Free from mildew and aphids
• No damaged or broken plant parts
• Juicy, strong leaves
• No smell of rot

Grow chard

Luckily

Cultivating Swiss chard is child's play and can even be done by people without a green thumb and by those new to gardening. The location for the he althy vegetables should be sunny to semi-shady. Your Swiss chard will also appreciate nutrient-rich and moisture-retaining soil. You can start growing stem chard from mid-February, and sow leaf chard on the windowsill from the beginning of May. The sowing depth is about two centimeters. Direct sowing outdoors can be done from the beginning of April for stem chard and from May for leaf chard. The planting distance in the bed depends heavily on the respective group and variety and should be between 15 and 45 centimeters. Here's how to grow Swiss chard.

How is Swiss chard grown?

• Loosen the bed and remove weeds
• Amend with compost or a slow acting organic fertilizer
• Seed furrows withPull distance of 30 to 40 cm
• Seed placement at a depth of 2 - 3 cm
• Cover seed with soil
• Water well
• Separate the little plants after they have emerged
• Planting distance: 15 - 45 cm

We explain in detail how to properly grow chard in the garden in our special article on the subject.

Care for chard: everything about watering and fertilizing

The chard likes it moist, which is why you should make sure to water your chard regularly. New watering is always necessary when the top layer of soil has dried.

Tip: A mulch layer of grass clippings or leaves not only protects the soil from drying out, but also suppresses unwanted weeds.

As a heavy feeder, leafy vegetables need sufficient nutrients to be able to grow well - this starts with planting. A fertilizer with an organic long-term effect such as our Plantura organic universal fertilizer creates the best starting conditions for your chard. Fertilizer must now be applied every six to eight weeks. Alternatively, chard can also be fertilized with compost.

Regular hoeing around the chard plants ensures loose soil and increased mineralization. And remove weeds at the same time. What you should not forget when caring for Swiss chard are snails. They especially love the young chard. Therefore, the chard bed should be protected from snails - or you can fight unwanted pests. You can find out more about combating snails here.

How to properly care for Swiss chard?

• Keep soil sufficiently moist
• Fertilize with compost, horn shavings or a slow release organic fertilizer
• Fertilize every 6 - 8 weeks
• Hack Regularly
• Protect from slugs or fight slugs

Winter chard

Chard is a biennial plant. This means that it only flowers in the second year. So it is extremely important to keep him he althy through the winter. In general, leaf chard is more resistant to frost than stem chard. It can even be harvested throughout the winter and is only protected in particularly severe frosts. You can cover it with straw, brushwood or fleece. The situation is somewhat different with stick chard. Many varieties are not frost tolerant and die in winter. However, some varieties can also survive double-digit minus degrees. The varieties 'Jessica','Hunsrücker Schnitt' or 'Genfer Krautstiel' are well suited for overwintering. However, you cannot harvest Swiss chard in winter. It is covered with a thick layer of bark mulch or leaves in the fall before the first frost.

How is chard successfully overwintered?

• Cut chard is more resilient than stem chard
• Cut chard can overwinter outdoors and be harvested throughout the winter
• Cover with straw or fleece in severe frosts
• For stem chard, frost-tolerant varieties are crucial
• These cannot be harvested in winter
• Protect with a thick layer of mulch

Multiply Chard

Mangold can be propagated by seeds yourself. To do this, some plants must be overwintered, as described above. Choose six to ten particularly strong and beautiful plants and harvest only a few leaves from them in the first year. Next year, remove the frost protection from the plants in spring and let them bloom in late summer. You can then start collecting seeds from the beginning of September. Collect the skeins in which the individual seeds are tied together as a whole. The seed can dry well in a cloth bag. It is then cleaned and labeled. The seeds can then be stored in a cool and dry place until next spring.

How do you propagate Swiss chard?

• 6 - Leave 10 plants
• Harvest only moderately
• Wintering
• Let it bloom
• Seed collection from the beginning of September
• Harvest the seed ball whole
• Drying and cleaning
• Store in a dry and cool place

Harvest and store chard

Depending on the variety and planned use, harvest can take place 60 to 100 days after sowing. You harvest the Swiss chard from the outside in. The inside always remains so that the plant can regenerate. With leaf chard, you can also harvest the leaves from the outside in or cut off all the leaves completely just above the ground. Even if all the leaves are cut off from the leaf chard, it will grow back. Chard stalks and leaves are not suitable for long-term storage, which is why only as much should be harvested as can be used immediately. Blanched briefly, however, the leafy vegetables can be frozen wellbecome.

How is chard harvested and stored?

• Harvest Swiss chard from the outside in; Always leave the chard heart standing
• Also harvest leaf chard from the outside in or cut off all leaves just above the ground
• Fresh chard can be stored in the refrigerator for 1 - 2 days
• Blanch chard briefly to freeze

You can find out more about harvesting, storing and preserving Swiss chard here.

Ingredients and use of Swiss chard

Chard contains many vitamins (A, B, C, E, K) as well as sodium, magnesium and potassium. Swiss chard is also one of the iron-rich vegetables. Similar to rhubarb (Rheum rhabarbarum) or spinach (Spinacia oleracea), it also contains a lot of oxalic acid. People with kidney disease should therefore avoid chard. In contrast to other types of beet, only the leaves and leaf stalks are consumed with chard. The root system is very sugary, but not edible. Incidentally, before the introduction of the sugar beet, some of the sugar was obtained by boiling the chard roots.

Mangold is traditionally used as a leaf and stem vegetable in Mediterranean cuisine. Young leaves of the leaf chard group can be used in salads, for example. With stem chard, the leaves and stems are usually prepared separately. The leaves can be used in the kitchen like spinach. The stalks are diced, blanched and then fried. Bitter chard varieties are blanched and/or roasted - the bitter taste disappears through the effect of heat. In general, varieties with a red stem have a slightly stronger taste.

Tip: Why not create a whole vegetable patch right away? With our Plantura vegetable set you get everything you need: from seeds, pots and growing medium to a reusable mini greenhouse.