I simply harvest the outside leaves, all season long. I plant seedlings pretty early, like early May or even late April. By September the stalk is pretty fat, but the leaves are fine still. I've been doing it this way for years.

I have cut whole head leaving about 2 inches of the stem and they have grown back.

Mine - planted mar/apr are getting stong flavored so I put in some new. Leaving a few old in case I need them in an emergency...

Cuz sometimes, you really need your greens! They're still pretty good in a soup.

I have used it right up til frost cutting back like t-bird does. I planted mine about 5 years ago and never planted it since.

Picking the outside leaves is the correct method, but I have so much (about 40 plants) and eat so much that I cut whole plants like the others do. You can cut and come again a plant five or six times in the course of a season.

To deal with excess chard, I mix it with bitter greens (mostly chicories of all sorts), cook it down and freeze it for the winter. The mixture tastes good, and you can have an harvest of chard in, say, early August when tomatoes and other summer stuff get all your attention. By september, the chard has regrown and the tomatoes are spent, so you are back to eating it fresh.

I cut outside leaves. But I think cutting whole plants, not too close to the ground, would work equally well because you would not cut the newly forming young leaves in the center.

BTW, I highly recommend making a quiche with your chard. It's good.

Jim

This is my first season growing Chard. I have about 8 plants and pick 2 or 3 stalks and leaves from the outside everyday. Be careful not to pick the center leaf. I've heard it will stop the growth.

I put them in whatever mixture of vegetables I'm eating and cook them however I'm cooking the vegetables that day.

Marric, Which chard do you grow? I have grown Large Ribbed, Dark Green Chard for years but start new each spring. It grows best for me late spring throughout the summer, up to first frost and then dies. (Or so I thought.) Would love to find one that will survive winter and give an early spring harvest.

I like greens and stems so for the stem Fordhook gets the nod from me. The stem is a lot like celery great cooked, or raw with a bit of peanut butter I did cut one off very low on the stalk to get rid of it and it grew back just like a cabbage with four little stalks of really tender salad leaves. I am letting it grow to see how it turns out. Other wise when it cools in the fall the greens get mild again. I let one overwinter last year without cutting back. well I had early chard for about a month and then it bolted to seed. I also brought one in to my kitchen for the garden under lights and harvested it all winter. Looks like I should have transplanted that chard into the spring garden but I heard they seed the second year.I might try to carry one over just for fun this winter

Curt

Surely Fordhook will survive the winter in Zone 7. It occasionally makes it in Michigan, under mulch. But it is slim pickings the next year, IMHO.

I like Argentata chard for flavor and vigor, and rhubarb and Bright Lights for color.

Chard grows fast and can take some frost, so you can get good-sized plants pretty quickly by reseeding in spring. They seem to be more vigorous and better-tasting than the ones that overwinter, and they won't bolt.

You can can the stuff but it's a major pain to do it. Ask me. LOL We like it fresh, but dh likes it canned too (i don't care for it that much canned). I've threatened him with swiss chard sandwiches some years.... :>

Is it too late to plant chard in zone 7? Thinking about trying it.

You'll harvest some baby leaves before frost.

"Is it too late to plant chard in zone 7? Thinking about trying it."

I planted my winter chard here in zone 5 just a few days ago! I would think in 7 you may well be able to grow it year round without protection. A simple layer and you definitely could.