Sunday, July 26, 2020
July 25, 2020
Talk about some seriously rainbow swiss chard! Bright Lights Swiss Chard was one of the recommended varieties in Jabbour's 'The Year-Round Vegetable Gardener' and I was able to find seeds for $.99 from eBay/southeastseeds. Swiss chard seeds are so interesting. They're quite large, and I seem to get quite a few stalks from a single seed. 'Not sure about that.
Most of these plants were indoor started in early April, although I also had some moderate success with winter sowing them in February, they got a bit later germination than many of the other vegetables I winter-sowed.
July 25, 2020
They're supposed to be moderately heat-resistant, and combined with my nitrogen issues in the new raised bed, may explain why the chard is only just now coming into its own. I've been harvesting little leaves for months, but right now we've got HUGE growth. This is great, because it'll replace some of what we're currently losing with the bolted lettuce.
July 25, 2020
I did plant the chard (and many other cool-weather veggies) to the northwest of some much taller growing plants. This is generally advised against, as you don't want to shade anything out, but in the case of cool-weather chard, having the morning sun blocked by a giant tomato plant and a bean trellis, this may actually extend the chard's life. Less heat, longer growing season! As tomatoes and beans don't really become huge until it gets hot, I suspect this is an arrangement that may work for quite awhile.
July 25, 2020
And, yes, it is definitely time to make more basil-kale pesto...Those basil plants are huge.
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