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Chard, and All Sorts of Other Greens for Cooking: It's worth scrolling down, as there are all sorts of other interesting greens listed here, as well as the Chard. Once you've tried all these, don't forget the Oriental Greens and Mustard Greens (which have their own pages) too.   ~ CHARD Seed ~ (also called LEAF BEET or SPINACH BEET) We are very fond of Chard, it provides a great cooked green for nearly all of the year, easier than spinach. One of our 'must have' crops, such a good return from even a little space. Leaf Beet (aka 'Perpetual Spinach') This variety of chard is bred to have minimal stem (and maximum leaf) for picking and cooking like spinach. It responds particularly well to repeated cutting and is one of the easiest and most productive vegetables for a a small space. A sowing in late spring can provide greens for almost a whole year, until the plants bolt the following spring. We are always astounded when we meet gardeners who haven't tried leaf beet or chard. You rarely see it in the shops because it ideally needs to be picked soon before eating, but it is such an easy and prolific crop in the garden, and so tasty too. Light green leaves , minimal stem Order ChLB - 300 seed £1.15 When to sow chard? Two sowings: First sow in spring for crops through summer and autumn. Or alternatively, sow after midsummer, for the heaviest production overwinter and through to the following spring. Sibilla Chard A large upright chard, with dark green leaves and moderately thick (but tender) white stems. The leaves are only slightly savoyed; we think this type is better than those with extremely wide stems; it suits the UK style of cooking much better, and is more tender. Harvest individual leaves or entire heads. Great in soups too! Dark green, medium white stem Order ChSi - 300 seed £1.25 White Beetroot for Leaves The succulent green leaves have been bred for cooking as leaf beet or chard. Leaves are noticeably more tender than other beetroot varieties. Also makes great non-staining white beetroot. (see 'Beetroot' section) We often pick the beet in the morning, cook the leaves at lunch as 'greens' then eat the root for dinner. White beetroot. Nice tender leaves. Order BtWh - 100 seed £1.69 Magic Chard Our Diversity Chard project generates some wonderful reds, yellows, oranges and pinks from time to time. We have taken seed from the best of these and crossed them to give this outrageously multi-coloured population. Some have fat pink stems, some are thin and red, some have pale leaves, a few are so deep purple they're almost black! Nice tender leaves and much more varied than the commercial 'Rainbow Chard'. Once again we are offering a small number of packets for you to try out; do keep the ones you like best and let them cross, to make your very own variety (seed-saving instructions included) Psychedelic mix of red chards, with a few yellows and oranges added in this year. (No, the photos have not been 'retouched'. The colours are as you see it!) Sorry - All gone now, try again in autumn 2008. ~ TURNIP GREENS, or "HEADLESS RAPE" ~ 'Rapa Senza Testa' Turnip Greens Now this is in here with the chard because, although not a chard, it's a fantastic quick growing alternative from the farmers of Italy. A leaf green from the Turnip family, this is ready about 4 weeks from sowing. It makes mild green leaves that have a wonderfully buttery flavour when cooked, and are also nice and mild if used raw in salads. Unlike chard it doesn't take up space for months on end, so you can just throw in a quick row here & there as a catch crop. For those still unconvinced, honestly, it really is nice, not spicy like Mustard Greens, nor is it "turnip-flavoured", but just a wonderful green on its own. One of our great new discoveries last year! And here is a photo of it is cooked with a bit of butter melting on top. Tender, with a great flavour. Mmmmm! We could hardly wait to finish taking photos before we fought over who was going to eat it . . . Our verdict? Fantastic!   Great quick green - give it a go, we guarantee you'll like it! Order BrTG - 1.5g seed £1.15 When to sow? It bolts in the heat, so either sow very early for spring greens, or sow after midsummer for a maincrop harvest in late summer / early autumn.   ~ SPINACH Seed ~ Whatever happened to the spinach? Well, we simply cannot grow enough or find a supply of good enough quality seed, and rather than send out seed we are dubious about, we would prefer to leave it out. You need to be able to trust our seed, and we will stand by this, even if it means the odd gap in the catalogue. Try Leaf Beet as an excellent and more easily grown alternative. ~ ORACH ~ We think that Orach - also known as German Mountain Spinach - is another vegetable that should really be more widely known. It grows quickly early in the year, supplying large quantities of mild spinach-shaped leaves with a pleasant flavour and texture. They are great as a major ingredient in salads, or cooked like any of the other greens here. 'Magenta Magic' Orach A new orach variety found by plant breeder and collector John Navazio, this is really vigorous and has intensely purple leaves that look great in the garden and on the table. The disc-like seed is sown from May onwards, for harvest over the summer. Plants grow to 1m tall (looking very pretty) , but are better picked when smaller as they are nice and tender when young. Deep Purple. Specially selected for organic conditions and growing by hand on small plots. Order SaMO - lots of seed [CO1] £1.50 'Green and Gold' Orach This is a bright and lively mix of two orachs - the Green Velvet (pictured) and the new Golden Orach. Both are from salad breeder Frank Morton. Orach is really great in salads, and also nice as a cooked green, too. The disc-like seed is sown from May onwards, for harvest over the summer. Glowing green and gold leaves, with a good flavour. Specially selected for organic conditions and growing by hand on small plots. Order SaGG - about 180 seed [CO1] £1.67 ~ LEAF AMARANTHS ~ You may not have heard of them but these are amazing. Our best plant grew 15 feet tall, making 10kg of plant from a 0.0002g seed - that's a 50-millionfold increase in biomass in just 90 days! There are thousands of amaranths, but only a very few will grow well in the UK. We tried lots of different ones before we found these varieties. So if you've grown them before and been disappointed, or been told that 'you can't grow amaranth in the UK' - give these a try. We've had great reports back from all over the country - including as far north as Ullapool. Mixed Leaf Amaranths - Available once again! Amaranth leaves make a really good cooked green vegetable. The leaves and young shoots are wonderfully tender and delicious. Easier in the kitchen than many greens, for they grow well off the ground, so need much less washing than say spinach. This is a mix of tall, high-yielding types such as 'Annapurna', 'Oscar Blanco' and other interesting crosses we have bred and selected in our trials. Crops heavily over a long season - they just keep making more & more shoots as you pick them. When it finally does go to flower, the seeds are white, so you can collect them for grain too. A mixture for leaf production. Bred by us from varieties suggested by Amaranth specialist David Brenner of Iowa State Univertity. Order LGML - 200 seed [OG1] £1.80 Feedback on our Mixed Leaf Amaranth has been pretty amazing. Here's Ike Gibson, who wrote: "I thought you'd like a picture of the thriving crop - grown in the middle of the village of Ullapool - on the NW coast of Scotland and only 60 miles south of Cape Wrath !! No problems at all - and even the caterpillars attacking the brassicas, left it alone - encountered no pests at all!!! "