Katxena's Oriole Swiss Chard
Beta vulgaris var. cicla

I removed this plant last night and ate all the leaves it had — all 4 of them. I decided to take it out because it is in my southwest bed, and I want to put all my brassicas together in my northwest bed this fall.

Also, it never performed well, so it’s time to start over with new plants.

I’m baffled by this chard. According to the seed packet, it matures in 60 days. It’s been 67, and this plant is dinky.

I had to move some of my other swiss chard, but not this one. This one was sown in place in good soil with lots of nitrogen (including rotted manure). It has good drainage and is watered deeply every 4 days or so, depending on rain and temperature. It gets about 7-8 hours a day of full sun.

I just don’t understand why it is stunted. It’s only about 8 inches tall, and has only 4-6 leaves on it. It’s nothing like the mammoth plants I remember from my mom’s garden, or that I saw on the CSA farm we used to belong to.

On the plus side, it is very pretty, with bright, almost absinthe green leaves and a pretty orange stem. I’ve started a new plant indoors that I’m going to plant on the other side of my garden, in a spot that gets 8+ hours of full sun a day. I’m hoping it might do a bit better.

This chard is growing slowly, but it’s already starting to look orange around the stem. I may have to plant another one of these, it’s such an electric color.

One of the two Oriole chards I planted has finally sprouted. It was slower than the Vulcan. I will replant the missing plant.