As the vegetable plot comes to life, chard is among the first to sprout

At this time of year, the kitchen garden at RHS Garden Harlow Carr is looking pristine and tidy if somewhat bare: seeds have been sown, plants are waiting to come out of the greenhouse, and structures are built and awaiting their climbing beans and peas. The last brassicas were harvested a few weeks ago with the few remaining leeks and a few oddities, salsify and hamburg parsley, so it’s a quiet time in the raised beds where the annual veg is grown. There is, however, a glimpse of colour to cheer the heart and the cooking pot – Swiss chard is re-sprouting after its winter sleep – a welcome source of early greens.

A really useful early crop in the kitchen garden, when there is little else around, chard is a biennial plant, sown and grown in one year, then flowers, sets seed and dies in the second. Our chard was sown last summer, cropped in the autumn, cut down by the cold and frost during winter before reemerging in early spring. It really earns its place in the kitchen garden or potager by cropping twice, as well as being an attractive plant. Finding chard in the seed catalogues can be fun as it appears under different names including seakale beet, leaf beet, Swiss chard, perpetual spinach and spinach beet, the confusion arising from the common or colloquial names, and well as the similarities between plants and the way they are used in cooking.

Swiss chard belongs to the Chenopodiaceae or goosefoot family - the name refers to the leaf shape of many of its members, such as beetroot, fat hen, orach and spinach. The common wild ancestor is the seabeet - Beta vulgaris ssp maritime - parent of both the leaf beets and beetroots, one having been selected for root production, the other for its leaves and stems. Beta vulgaris ssp cicla - the Swiss chard - has broad stems or leafstalks often eaten as a separate vegetable from the spinach-like leaves. They are cooked and served in the same way as seakale; another possible reason for the seakale beet name variant. The plant seakale, Crambe maritima, is a member of the cabbage family. Very like Swiss chard, is perpetual spinach or spinach beet, used more for its plain leaves, and with narrower stalks than Swiss chard. It makes a more compact plant, and can be cropped over a long period for its fresh, green leaves.

‘True’ spinach is Spinacia olearacea, another relative used and cooked in the same way. New Zealand spinach belongs to a different family entirely, and when you come to mountain spinach or orache, tree spinach and strawberry spinach or beetberry, it all gets a bit confusing!

It is worth the hunt though, as Swiss chard is a star veg for looks and value as an edible plant. The leaves can be used in the same way as spinach but the stems can also be steamed, or lightly braised and served with a sauce or citrus butter. At Harlow Carr, we switch to Swiss chard in summer and usually grow spinach in the cooler months, when it is less likely to bolt or run to seed. Great in the ornamental potager as a filler-in, it can be included in any part of the rotation in the kitchen garden, and is relatively free from pest and disease attack.

Sown early under glass and planted out mid-spring, or sown direct from late spring, it should provide a crop over a very long period. A second sowing in late summer will supply leaves through to spring, especially if some plants are protected with cloches to improve the quality. A rich, moist soil and mulching is preferable, and to get really good quality leaves, a nitrogen feed a couple of times during the growing season. Stems can be picked off individually, leaving the younger leaves to grow on, or the whole plants cut down - leaving an inch or so of growth - to re-sprout. The young leaves of chard can be used small in salads.

Bright lights (Rainbow Chard) is the most colourful variety and has a real wow factor - orange, acid lemon and pink stems - or go for the single-coloured rhubarb or ruby chard (red stems) or white stemmed Swiss chard, my favourite for cooking.

Jobs for the Week

• Get sowing! The soil should have warmed up enough now to sow direct into the ground: try crops like spring onion, spinach, radish, parsnip and beetroot. Soil temp can be checked with a soil thermometer – anything less than 7oC and it’s better to wait, or put horticultural fleece over an area to warm it up.

• Potatoes should be in now – traditionally planted on Good Friday, but it should be when ground conditions are suitable – Easter was really early this year, so we left it a bit later.

• Ensuring that crops grown in the greenhouse are hardened off properly before planting out – a couple of weeks gradually exposing them to the outside world, during the day and then overnight. Plants should feel springy and the leaves shouldn’t be soft or sappy. Check the weather and protect from hard frosts and low temperatures.

DIARY DATES

Until 29 April: Bath House Gallery – Printing Showcase

Printmakers will showcase their work in Harlow Carr’s historic Bath House. Print work is growing in popularity, so make sure you pop by to see work by returning and new artists. Normal garden admission.

30 April - 6 May: National Gardening Week – Share your ‘Passion for Plants’

Gardeners are being encouraged to share their passion for plants and gardening during this year’s National Gardening Week. There will be a host of activities including a chance to create your own ‘Passion for Plant Pot’ as well as tips from expert gardeners, together with a one-off performance of Old Herbaceous, described by The Guardian as ‘Downton Abbey with gardening tips’. Normal garden admission applies.

As the UK’s leading gardening charity, the proceeds taken from events and tickets sales at all RHS gardens help to fund the many activities undertaken by the RHS to promote horticulture and help gardeners. For further information on all the above events please call 01423 565418.

RHS Garden Harlow Carr, Crag Lane (off the B6162 Otley Road), Beckwithshaw, Harrogate HG3 1QB (if using Sat Nav use postcode HG3 1UE). Gardens open every day of the year, except Christmas Day, from 9.30am until 6pm (or 4pm Nov-Feb inclusive). Last entry 1 hour before closing. RHS Members (+ 1 Family guest) Free; Prices (excluding Gift Aid): Adult: £11.50; Child 5-16: £5.750, Under 5s: Free; Family: £29. Groups (10+): £9.50 Gardens: 01423 565418. Shop and Plant Centre: 01423 724666. Bettys Café Tea Rooms 01423 505604.

RHS Membership

Join the RHS at Harlow Carr and you’ll receive many exclusive benefits including: a monthly copy of ‘The Garden’ magazine; free entry (with a family guest) to RHS Gardens: Harlow Carr, Wisley, Rosemoor and Hyde Hall; free access to over 130 RHS recommended gardens throughout the UK at selected periods; free gardening advice; privileged tickets to world famous flower shows and much more. Call for more information.