Gardening expert talks Swiss chard and beetroot and how to add colour

This alternative to spinach is as easy to grow as the plain green leaf beet, but if you choose rainbow chard you will be rewarded with quite a few colours of the spectrum.

If you choose peppermint chard the stalks will be a pastel purple streaked with white.

A few chard seeds go a long way in the veg patch, planted from now through to September.

Later sowings will provide a crop through winter – unless we get a rare very harsh one.

Swiss chard growing in Richard Wright's veg patch. (Image: Richard Wright)

Make a shallow drill in well-prepared soil in a sunny spot and sow seeds thinly about an inch deep.

Cover them with soil, water-in well and keep moist as the seeds germinate.

Rows should be 18in apart and, ideally, plants thinned to six inches between them, although denser planting – especially in containers – won't cause any problems for this vigorous grower.

It needs regular cropping, especially in the summer when chard is prone to running to seed. It will reward with tender new growth.

Young tender leaves can be eaten raw in salads; the more mature leaves are great in stir-fries and soups and the stalks too are tasty, but need separate cooking because they take longer.

Colourful varieties of beetroot. (Image: Richard Wright.)

Much colour can also be hidden underground in the vegetable patch.

There are ever more varieties of beetroot on the market in a host of colours in a single packet.

All the major seedspeople stock rainbow beetroot and most include Chioggia which I tried for the first time last year - complete with its internal rings of dark pink and white.

Many also include the white Albina Verduna.

The mixture is certain to provide interest to the most jaded of palates and, who knows, may even tempt children – often put off by the blood-red of traditional beet – into having a try.

•  For early crops, sow a bolt-resistant variety now for use in summer. Pick them young and small.

Successional sowings of suitable varieties can be made until as late as July.

TOP TIPS FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR:

Harden off outdoor tomatoes, courgettes and pumpkins for planting out later this month when (and if) the weather warms up...

Lift and divide overcrowded clumps of daffodils and other spring-flowering bulbs.

Protect strawberry plants with straw, both to control weeds and keep the fruit off the ground, and netting to keep birds off.

Harvest rhubarb, picking only one-third of the total amount of stems. If it’s a newly-planted crown resist picking any in the first year.

Top-dress permanent pot plants to refresh the compost. Add moisture-retaining granules.

Supplement container plants with a balanced liquid feed every three weeks to promote healthy growth.

Pick off any larvae or lily beetle from rosemary or viburnum plants as soon as you spot them to prevent infestation.

Look out for signs of blackspot on roses. If discovered, treat it with a systemic fungicide.

Protect carrots from carrot fly by covering with enviromesh or horticultural fleece.