To be honest, flavorwise I prefer true spinach (Spinacia oleracea) over silver beet (Beta vulgaris) any day. I also like to use the tender young spinach leaves in salads and find silver beet a bit tough for this.
But I still grow lots of silver beet every year, and if you look at the picture you'll easily guess why: It makes such a striking feature in my kitchen garden.
Silver beet is also referred to as Swiss Chard, and the colored varieties have names like Ruby Chard (pictured above) and Rainbow Chard. Rainbow Chard is a mixture with yellow, orange, pink, purple and red stems.
Silver beet has another advantage over spinach: It is a lot more heat tolerant and is a good substitute during the hottest months of the year when your delicate English spinach fails.
The seeds of silver beet are large and irregular shaped, and every seed will grow into multiple seedlings. I start them in small pots and separate the seedlings when they are big enough to handle. By then they also show their true colors, and I can find the perfect spot in my garden where they will complement the surrounding foliage and flowers, instead of causing hideous color clashes.
A word of warning: Silver beet is one of the greediest vegetables around, its appetite for nitrogen is insatiable. To look and taste its best it should be planted in fertile humus rich soil, and then still fed regularly with a high nitrogen fertilizer such as pelleted chicken manure.
Do that and you will enjoy an edible colorful display for many months.
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