The charms of CHARD

Every gardener should be growing this delicious and decorative vegetable, says Monty Don – so start sowing now

Chard is an essential ingredient in both the vegetable plot and the kitchen. Not only is it delicious prepared in various ways but it’s easy to grow and, with a little planning, can provide a year-round harvest. A chard-free vegetable garden or allotment is grievously amiss.

Chard is a member of the beet family, along with beetroot, spinach, sugar beet, orache and plain beet. You will often see the standard form with its glossy green leaves and exceptionally polished white stems referred to as Swiss chard – although it is no more Swiss than I am and has been grown in this country since the 16th century. The origins of the name are unclear, though some believe it’s because the plant was first described by a Swiss botanist, Gaspard Bauhin.

There are two separate parts to the plant. The leaves are like a slightly coarser spinach, with the oxalic acid present in them adding a slightly sharp flavour that combines well with their natural sweetness, and the stems are delicate and subtle.

There is also ruby chard, which has pinkish red stems and bronzed purple leaves; ‘Bright Lights’ and ‘Rainbow’ chard, both of which have stems that range from yellow and pink to deep red; ‘Charlotte’, with scarlet foliage; and ‘Bright Yellow’ that has, as its name suggests, bright yellow stems. All are good, all are supremely decorative – and often grown in flower beds for that reason alone – but in my opinion none of the colours or variations grow or taste better than straightforward Swiss chard.

All the plants grow upright and look handsome although if you sow or plant them out a little late and do not give them the chance to get established, they can remain quite small over winter before starting to grow into their true form once the days begin to lengthen. The problem with that is that they will bolt and try to set seed much sooner than usual, so I suggest sowing seed in plugs – trays of tiny pots – now and growing them on with the protection of a greenhouse or win- dowsill, ready to plant out 20-30cm apart at the end of April. These will be harvestable from the end of May through to late autumn or longer.

In the meantime a second sowing should be made at the beginning of July and these plants will overlap the others but be in good shape to last through the winter into late spring. In fact, a healthy chard with a decent-sized root system will regrow from an almost unbelievably wrecked state. Very cold weather can reduce them to a seemingly irretrievable brown gloop. However, the root underground will be fine and throw up new green shoots.

If you sow the seeds direct you have to thin them again later so each plant has the room to develop a robust root. They are very droughtresistant when established, although the hotter and drier the weather the greater the ratio of stalk to green leaf. In general it is best to plant them into rich, well-drained soil and keep the water supply steady, as erratic watering will stress them and induce bolting. You can either harvest the leaves by taking a few from each plant or, as I do, cut the whole thing flush with the ground, which provokes a fresh flourish of tender young leaves.

The leaves are good on their own, but are exceptionally tasty when eaten with any combination of cream, cheese, anchovy, garlic or pine nuts. Chard leaves also combine extremely well with eggs. In France, they are more likely to discard the leaves and carefully cook the stems. We often cook the stems and leaves together with a little bacon, garlic and Parmesan to make a superb sauce for pasta.

Monty holding Swiss chard in his garden