Somewhere Over The Rainbow

The season for perpetual Spinach and Chard is almost over and the plants are starting to go to seed.  The picture above shows Rainbow Chard, which comes in at least half a dozen colours, from pale pink through to yellow, orange, and deep red.  I often plant it in the flower borders as it gives a real shot of colour and is very decorative.  If you cut the seed heads off you will still get small amounts of leaves throughout the winter, but when spring comes it sends up more seeds heads and the plants should be pulled and new seed sown.

This, and Spinach, are important leaf crops in the cottage garden, and have been in use since the 16th century, but with Chard you have the added benefit of being able to use the stems separately as a vegetable, as well as the leaf.