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Swiss Chard – When The Vegetables Are In Season

Swiss chard season is in summer

All chard lovers can look forward to summer. Then the vegetables will be in season again in this country. If it is sourced from local cultivation, the taste and health value also benefit due to the freshness. At the same time, the environment thanks, because long transport is avoided.

  • The main season for chard from central European outdoor cultivation extends from July to the beginning of September.
  • In the off-season, the leafy and stalked vegetables are occasionally harvested as early as June and also from the end of September to the beginning of November.
  • Cultivation of Swiss chard outdoors begins no earlier than sowing at the end of March. The beds must then be covered with fleece to protect them.
  • Since Swiss chard is a biennial plant, the first small leaves that can be harvested young start to sprout from the beginning of April on previous year’s plants – especially with leaf chard.
  • The early and late chard offerings at the vegetable stand mostly come from growing areas in Italy, France, and Spain, and some from the Near East.

Recognizing and preserving fresh Swiss chard

There are supermarkets that offer chard in their vegetable department all year round – including in the winter months. This then grows mainly in greenhouses around the eastern Mediterranean.

  • When buying, you should make sure that the leaves of the healthy vegetables are fresh and firm.
  • Individual leaves quickly lose their elasticity, and “compact” chard harvested as a whole plant lasts a little longer.
  • The veins of the leaves should still be as light as possible and not brownish when they are white.
  • A test for freshness that you can only do after purchase if you buy the chard as a “head” and not as individual leaves: Rub the veins of the leaves together. With good freshness, you will hear a slight “creaking”.
  • If you would like to stock up on the leaves and stalks for the winter, or if you have bought too much to prepare straight away, you can blanch the chard and freeze it. It lasts about six months like this.
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Written by John Myers

Professional Chef with 25 years of industry experience at the highest levels. Restaurant owner. Beverage Director with experience creating world-class nationally recognized cocktail programs. Food writer with a distinctive Chef-driven voice and point of view.

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