[kezlou]

Hi everyone,

Just a quick question regarding swiss chard.

this year we've been eating a lot of swiss chard and so far its gorgeous, even the kids like it  . Been harvesting it since March, its about the only thing weve eaten before the slugs have.

Well over the past couple of days all four plants bolted and it looks like seed pods are ready to flower. Now my problem i picked some young and old chard leaves, fried them with red onions, all smelled delicious. But when i tasted the leaves they tasted rotten, almost as bad as fungi. I literally couldn't eat them.

Now i'm wondering what to do the plants, should i pull them out and replace them with new plants? Or is they something with the plant / soil itself.

Thanks for reading

Kerry

[sunshineband]

Once the plants go to seed, the taste of the leaves turns very bitter and unpleasant 

On the plus side, there is time to sow more, which will overwinter well 

[kezlou]

Thanks 

thats just what i wanted to know!

The leaves were fouled, make me want to vomit, thats how bad they were.

I've just started some swiss chard from seed a couple of days ago. So fingers all will grow well and we'll have more ready for over winter.

Its my first time starting them from scratch and i bought the plants last year and thought i'd have a go.

[sunshineband]

Easy peasy fom seed 

[JaK]

I have found it easy to grow from seed too.

[someoneorother]

Easy peasy fom seed 

Indeed. Literally just 'make hole, put seed in, cover'. Maybe thin out a bit and water if necessary, if you're feeling fancy.

[TerryB]

One of the best plants to grow.
Easy to germinate and grow, you can eat it all, long growing season and doesn't seem to  attract pests or disease.
Have got my second lot in modules waiting to go in after spuds come out.  

[Growster...]

One of the best plants to grow.
Easy to germinate and grow, you can eat it all, long growing season and doesn't seem to  attract pests or disease.
Have got my second lot in modules waiting to go in after spuds come out.  

Same here Terry - waiting for some room...!

[kezlou]

brilliant!

I've put the seeds in a pot so with a bit of luck they should ready to go in 
Didn't think they were that easy, well who know i have the power to kill weeds but only just succeeded this year flowers.

I must admit, never had a single problem with chard, now the purple sprouting broccoli, never had a sniff. It either keeled over and died or the blumming insects got to it.

Not sure whether to try growing from seed and trying again.

[hogwarden]

  yep-super to grow, great flavour-the only nastie I had/have is the beet-leaf miner -and I really hate those little b*****s!

[Pompey Spud]

One of the first veggies I grew.

Soon learnt that a whole row is a tad too much for a family of 4. Couldn't give it away.

It's great in quiche...yum.

[Ralphy]

so once it's bolted should it be dug up and be replaced? my chard is going mental, it was planted last spring but didn't really take off til this year, i'm utterly clueless and assumed it was a perennial because it survived the winter.
It looks like a triffid/ octopus hybrid now

[TerryB]

so once it's bolted should it be dug up and be replaced? my chard is going mental, it was planted last spring but didn't really take off til this year, i'm utterly clueless and assumed it was a perennial because it survived the winter.
It looks like a triffid/ octopus hybrid now

Cut the flowering stem off and use any other stems that look OK untill the next lot are up and growing, then remove.
They will not grow much during winter, so they need some growing time before it gets to cold but will then stand during all but the very worst of winters.

[Growster...]

One of the first veggies I grew.

Soon learnt that a whole row is a tad too much for a family of 4. Couldn't give it away.

It's great in quiche...yum.

Now that's helpful Pmpey Spud, because there are only two of us for now, and I ciould use the room for something else!

[sunshineband]

Awwww I remember the glut of chard too 

Neighbourd avoided any talk of allotments 'cos they just knew what they would get