[Swing Swang]

How long do people keep Chard/Perpetual Spinach going. My one year old plants keep trying to bolt, but I'm still cropping, and hacking back the flowering heads. This years replacement sowings are so feeble that I'm going to throw them away and maybe start again.

Do I start again, or should I keep last year's plants going for another year?

The answer probably lies in the 'perpetual' bit of the spinach...

Regards,

SS

[Oliver]

How long do people keep Chard/Perpetual Spinach going.
Perpetual ...

Yes, it does! I keep mine going from year to year, but I let it self-seed, usually in its second year, then:
dig up some a plant them in a row for the next lot
eat the seedlings as a salad when they have about 6 good leaves
offer some to friends and other plotholders
hoe in the rest before they get too big.
If they do escape, pull them up and put them on the compost heap
I don't try to keep the old plant going as I find it harbours snails - lots of lovely nooks and crannies for the big b...... to lurk
Oliver

[matt80]

What does self-seed mean?

[Oliver]

What does self-seed mean?

It means the plants go to flower and make seed and sow it themselves, without human intervention, all over the place  carried by the wind, by birds, by your muddy boots.
Oliver

[jazzbyrd]

I only keep my swiss chard for one year .....I always sew another batch each spring!

Jazz

[Stripey_cat]

Mine are on quite light soil, and the spring sowings bolt in the autumn while the overwintered late-summer sowings are bolting now.  I let a few of each colour (yes, I have Bright Lights!) set seed each time so I have plenty of spares, and I've learned to cut the stems down as soon as I've collected my seed, or it self-sets *everywhere*.  I'd assumed the "perpetual" was that you could have it year round, unlike normal spinach, rather than that the individual plants were perennial.