Beetroot and Swiss chard - easy nutritious crops

Beetroot is one of the easiest crops to grow.

They are very similar to carrots in their needs and cultivation, except that there is no pesky carrot fly to make life difficult and the seeds are a lot bigger and easier to see!

Beetroot makes another good organic vegetable to add to your green living garden collection.

Like carrot seed, you can plant them two or three to a cell and then transplant them when they get to an inch or two high. Or you can sow them directly into well prepared soil, about 1/2 inch deep and 2-4 inches apart.

Choosing a good variety

There's a wide variety of types of beetroot available, from deepest red to pale pink and even white. There are also many different shapes to choose from and some beetroots are better adapted to warmer climates. Look for heritage varieties and non F1 seeds if you want flavour and seeds to store for next year.

Sowing your beetroot seeds

There are different shaped roots available from conical to very round, so the final distance apart will depend upon what type you sow and how large you want them to be. Like many root crops, younger plants are usually more tender, juicy and flavoursome.

The soil should be above 7 degrees centigrade.

For more cultivation details please see also: Grow carrots for taste and vitamin content

Aim to finish with them about four inches apart, more if you have sown in cells. For larger varieties 6 - 8 inches apart will be better, especially if you want to grow them on into autumn.

The seeds are actually often clumps of seed; more than one plant may germinate from each "seed". So be careful not to sow too many close together. You can use thinnings in salads - the leaves are very rich in calcium and they add vibrant colour.

You can carry on sowing beetroot all summer long. If you are sowing in spring, choose bolt-resistant varieties because beetroot can be prone to bolting in mid-summer. Lift the roots for storage before any serious frosts threaten.

Salad beetroot

If you want small beetroot mainly for use in salads it is quite possible to grow them in containers. Pick shorter and rounder varieties for this and keep them very well watered. You can use the leaves as a cut-and-come-again crop, too.

Swiss chard is very easy and the method of sowing is similar. This plant offers greens right throughout the winter months. It is a little like spinach but a lot easier to grow.

Chard often appears in seed catalogues as "Swiss chard", spinach beet, ruby chard and even silverbeet. It is an attractive and striking plant. Some of the red varieties even look worthy of the herbaceous border! The leaves can be a glossy dark green complementing almost fiery red stems.

You can also buy "rainbow" varieties which emerge in a variety of colours from green, through yellows and oranges, to bright red.

This is a tough and vigorous plant which withstands some drought surprisingly well, though it will tend to run to seed if dry weather is prolonged. A good 5 metre row should provide eating for an average families needs.

Picture, above: A red variety of Swiss chard - just starting to bolt!

Plant chard, of whatever variety, from spring through to autumn, in well manured ground. Seed needs to be sown about 2 cms (3/4 -1 inch) deep about 10cms between plants. Thin down the row as the seedlings develop to get plants about 9 or 10 inches apart by maturity.

The thinnings can be used in salads or to add to dishes of greens. The mature plants' leaves are delicious chopped and sauteed in butter. The stems are especially tasty, having a salty, subtle favour.

A very easy and reliable vegetable. It self-seeds, too for another effortless crop!

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