Leaf vegetables include vegetable species from the group of salad vegetables and the so-called. green (leaf parsley, celery, chard, spinach, watercress, etc.). These are plants with a short growing season and a fast growth rate, therefore they require good fertilization and constant soil moisture. However, they have relatively low temperature and day length requirements. Due to the short growing season, they can be grown in the forecrop, catch crops or catch crops, so that the period of their consumption, when we use soil cultivation, runs from the beginning of May to the end of October, and if we grow under glass – throughout the year. Most of them are eaten raw.
Swiss chard
Swiss chard, that is, leaf beet, is a biennial plant: forms a large rosette of butt leaves in the first year, and in the second – seed shoots. Its nutritional value is relatively high, compared with other vegetables, amounts of easily digestible protein, high in iron, calcium and vitamins. The usable part of the chard is very large, fleshy, often wrinkled leaves, colors from yellow-green to dark green, depending on the variety, which can be cooked like spinach, and wide juicy leaf petioles, that is getting ready to eat like asparagus.
Leaf beetroot is undemanding to climate and soil. It tolerates frosts well. It is sown in April, in rows what 30-40 cm, in an amount 2 g/m2. After emergence, the plants must be discontinued, leaving them making 20 cm. In the case of growing for the leaves only, the sowing is denser (3 g/m2) and leaves plants co 5-8 cm. The plants are fed during the growing season, using 2 or 3 times after 20 g of calcium ammonium nitrate on 1 m2. The period from sowing to harvesting continues 8-10 weeks.
Only one variety is grown – Lukullus, which leaves have to 70 cm in length and 30 cm wide, are notched, yellow-green, the petioles are greenish-white, thick.