Chard or beetroot

General: This is a strong large plant, similar to table beet, but it uses not only root vegetables, but also leaves. In culture, chard is known since the days of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome called Roman cabbage.

Requirements: chard is a cold-resistant plant. Can be kept under snow in the open ground and early in the spring to give a delicate greens. Plants are demanding for fertility and soil moisture. High yields on light humus soils. It also works well in floodplain areas and cultivated peat bogs. It is best to place chard after potatoes, cabbage, onions and cucumber.

Ingredients: leaves and cuttings contain vitamins C, B1, B2, PP, carotene, pantothenic acid, sodium, potassium, iron salts, as well as proteins and sugars.

Cultivation: the seeds are sown in an ordinary way on a flat surface with a row spacing of 40-45 cm or on beds with inter-row spacing of 30-32 cm. The seeding rate is 1 g / m2.In the spring, it is sown simultaneously with beets( in the middle belt - in late April - the first ten days of May, and for the winter - in late October - early November).The seeding depth is 2.5-3 cm

Varieties

Of the domestic varieties, the most common are Scarlet and Belavinka. They give standing leaves( up to 10-12 pieces) with a height of 70-75 cm. Apy has plates with a ribbed surface, violet-green, slightly wavy, petioles red and yellow with yellow. Belavinka - dark green with a bubbly undulating surface. The petioles are white in both, often with a pink or greenish tinge at the base. Early ripening varieties Krasnozhershkovy proved to be well established.

is known from foreign varieties. ( bubbly wavy green leaves with yellowness, petioles white), Lyons ( rosette of lettuce leaves), Silvery curled ( leaves are strongly bubbly, petioles are wide white).

Care: shoots that appear after 7-9 days are thinned first to a distance of 10-12 cm, then leaf varieties - to 18-22, and petiolate - to 30-40 cm. In the latter case, if the chard is intended for multiple removable leaves, the plants in the rows are left at a distance of 20-25 cm.

After the second thinning, the plants are fed with weak fertilizer solutions: 5-6 g / m2 of ammonium nitrate and 9-10 g / m2 of superphosphate and potassium salt. The subsequent care consists of frequent watering and loosening of the soil.

Harvesting: leaf leaves are harvested in 42-45 days after emergence, when plants develop 5-7 leaves. During the season they are shot several times. If large leaves with long petioles are needed, the shoot begins in a phase of 10-12 leaves. They are cut off all at once, leaving only the youngest in the center of the outlet. The leaves can also be broken one at a time, from the edge to the middle of the rosette. Leaves are not stored for long in boxes, having laid a thin layer.

Usage: tender pastoral leaves are used fresh or boiled, petioles, like celery celery and asparagus, stewed or boiled, for salads and soups.