I thought the day would never come when I would be raving about a variety of Swiss Chard. Because frankly, up until recently I wasn’t even a fan of chard, at least not in the kitchen. In the garden it is definitely a superstar green – easy to grow, hardy and prolific. It’s just the taste that I didn’t care for. Not surprisingly I’m not a huge fan of beets either, though I do love their relative spinach.
harvest of Verde da Taglio chard
Now, most people have one or two vegetables they can’t stand. For some it’s Brussels Sprouts (I love them). For others it’s asparagus (I can’t get enough of it). Or maybe even kale, eggplant, or cilantro (they’re all good in my book). But Verde da Taglio is a tender, mild tasting variety of chard that has both my wife and I enjoying it. I can only wish I had tried this variety sooner! I got my seed from Seeds from Italy, but this variety is also available from Baker Creek, which calls it “one of the best tasting chards.” I couldn’t agree more!
Verde da Taglio growing at Impact Community Garden
This year I am growing my chard in the greenhouse, so that’s where I have the
Verde da Taglio planted. I had an open spot in the greenhouse beds, and I know it will be safe from the hungry deer in there. But we also have it growing at the Impact Community garden, where it is planted in the open and thriving. It is a bit more compact growing there than the plants in the greenhouse, where they receive a bit lower light levels and warmer temperatures.
leaf of Verde da Taglio
The cooked leaves of the Verde da Taglio sort of remind me of spinach, though the stems taste more like chard to me. Compared to many chard varieties, it has thin and slender stems and large tender leaves. Since this is my first year growing it, I’m still learning about it as I go along. So far there has been nothing not to like though.
Verde da Taglio growing in greenhouse bed
Verde da Taglio loosely translates to ‘green cutting’, which is likely a reference to it being used for cut and come again harvesting. Like other chards, the individual leaves can be harvested or the whole plant can be cut near the soil line and allowed to regrow.
To find other great varieties, visit Suburban Tomato where Liz hosts the Saturday Spotlight series. I hope you’ve enjoyed this Saturday Spotlight, and I’ll be back soon with another variety.
To see my other Saturday Spotlights, visit the Variety Spotlights page.
I’m a chard lover, but I do hate the stems. I really hate beets and the stems taste like beets to me. I’ve found I like the white stemmed chards the best and the grow better for me than the red stemmed chards. Which is too bad because I so love the look of those colorful stems.
Yes, the colored varieties are pretty enough to grow as ornamentals. But I think they are stronger tasting.
I didn’t plant chard this year, even though I like it, there are so many other things in the garden I like better, I never seem to get around to eating it. I’ve haven’t tried Verde da Taglio, I may have to plant a few seeds. Of the varieties I’ve grown, I liked Argentata the best.
Argentata is the only other variety I have planted this year. I do think it tastes better than the red or other colored varieties, but I like Verde da Taglio much better.
Just ordered some seed!
I see you’re growing Tatume squash. I grew Tatume up a trellis in my greenhouse last year and liked it. Do you know of any other good climbing summer squash?
Tatume is the only one I have grown, and I’m not aware of other vining summer squashes.
Not sure if Odessa climbs as well as Tatume, but I might give it a try, http://www.rareseeds.com/odessa-squa/?F_Keyword=odessa
I should have mentioned, I also grew Trombetta climbing squash last year and didn’t care for the taste/texture.
Cavilli squash is one of my favorites, I see you like that one too.
What is Gentilina lettuce like, is it similar to Black Seeded Simpson?
Have you ever eaten/grown Agretti?
Gentilina is much like Simpson, only perhaps a bit more frilly and more compact. I have never eaten Agretti, or grown it. That’s a new one to me!
Tromboncino/Trombetta is very prolific, but I didn’t much care for the taste either. Cavili is a lovely light green Meditteranean zucchini.
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I grow the exact same variety of chard and absolutely love it. I love that it grows well in really quite shady areas. I love how I can use it in pretty much every cooked spinach recipe with good results. I love how easy it is to grow and I love the mild slightly lemony flavour. I love how big it can get in optimal conditions. Basically I love this plant – great Spotlight choice.
I had to cut down on the number of squash I could grow this year and I picked just Cavili, Tatume and Sunburst. I’ll have to check out some of the other varieties, I haven’t tried, on your seed list.
Do you choose most of your lettuce varieties for heat tolerance? I love lettuce and try something new every year, this year Pirat, but my favorite lettuce is probably Buttercrunch. I like deer tongue in the Spring greenhouse.
I choose some for heat tolerance, like Anuenue, Sierra, Loma and Tropicana. But I haven’t found many lettuces that do well here with our July and August heat.
This is the first year I grew Verde da Taglio, too. It is a winter crop here. I adored it. So tender and tasty. I’ll definitely be growing it again.
I’ve already started some seeds for more plants this fall!
So the proper name is Verde da taglio chard? I bought a package of this at the hardware store and it was entitled “Perpetual Spinach”. In any case, it is a wonderful green, having the best qualities of Swiss Chard, none of its negative ones, and the nice aspects of spinach (tender leaves). This one is a four-star winner in my books.