Overwintered Swiss Chard

Thanks to the very mild winter we had, a square of swiss chard that I forgot to pull ended up overwintering and is thriving right now. It's grown back up to a really nice size at this point.

We don't really eat it all that much so I'm not an expert on taste and texture, but I tasted a piece raw the other day and it seemed fine.
Any reason I should not continue to harvest (cut and come again) and eat it?

I've been eating on mine and it tastes fine. Started pulling up the plants 2 weeks ago after the new crop started popping up. I have 1 more old plant, which just shot way up in the last week, to pull sometime this week and by next week my new crop will be ready to start a small harvest.

Enjoy

Kay

I'm jealous...

I transplanted my Swiss Chard about 6 weeks ago maybe 7 and it hasn't got much bigger than what it was when I transplanted it.

MikeP wrote:Thanks to the very mild winter we had, a square of swiss chard that I forgot to pull ended up overwintering and is thriving right now. It's grown back up to a really nice size at this point.

We don't really eat it all that much so I'm not an expert on taste and texture, but I tasted a piece raw the other day and it seemed fine.
Any reason I should not continue to harvest (cut and come again) and eat it?

Mike I found that it tends to develop an earthy taste when grown in mother earth soil if you take it through to the second year . It will also suddenly bolt and try to make seeds . When it gets to that stage dig out the long tap root & compost the lot .

Plant a few seeds to take over while you still have time .

Yeah, I think that's what I'll do eventually.
We harvested it the other day and there was a ton of it, a large paper bag full of it. Of course with the stalks removed it cooked down to fit into a small bowl.

I think I'll see if it builds back up a bit over the next few weeks (enough for one more harvest). At that point I will just pull it, either way. We'll be planting another two squares of it this weekend; I find that it works great when direct sown.

As I mentioned we never really ate much of it before by itself, though we had it as an ingredient in other dishes before. My wife really liked it and I thought it was just okay (but that won't stop me from eating it). So that combined with how easy it is to grow, how attractive the Bright Lights variety is, and the fact that it provides continuous harvest means that we will keep going with this little veg.

Thanks!

Side query... Any thought about what to do with the stalks? I wasn't crazy about eating them raw. I assume they'd be fine diced up and sauteed with the leaves?

That's what I do with it...just chop it all up into little pieces and saute with whatever veggies need cooking.

Mine made it through the winter as well (Philadelphia). Plants are actually bigger this season than last. I just keep picking one or two leaves from each plant to use in stir-fry or in omeletts and I never harvest the whole plant.

Has been a great source of yummy greens for me for a year now with no pest or disease problems. I really like it. I grow the Fordhook Giant cultivar which the stalks on it are tasty too. Haven't tried the others.