When do you pick Swiss chard from your garden?

Answer 1

Short answer: once the plant leaves are over a foot in height. Long answer: I picked mine as soon as I felt that the root system was established and that the leaves are large enough to be useful. In West Virginia, it took about 3 weeks from sowing 5 inch tall plants, in march, to have the plants establish. The largest leaves are about a foot long and 6 inches wide, at their widest, with an additional 10 inches or so of a celery-like stalk. These are the older leaves with the least amount of flavor. Younger leaves are more tender and can be used as a more direct substitute for lettuce. I've read that high heat makes the leaves more bitter, so you may want to avoid eating the leaves during this time, but I've not had my plants long enough to know if this is true in my climate. Be sure to trim the stalk of the leave at the base of the plant, even if you're only using the leafy part, to ensure the plants remain healthy.