Frost and the Tough Swiss Chard

{ice-covered oak leaves in the grass}

 We'll get our first frost in October here near Albany, New York. I think we had one hard frost day last month - and I covered the veggie garden up in tarps and towels to protect some of the plants...

{ice on the car windshield}

 But in November, it dips below freezing hereso often that I give up the tarps and let the garden freeze over.

{dead, dead, dead}

 The tomatoes vines look like this, and I've potted up a tall rosemary plant and hot pepper plant to sit on the windowsill so they don't meet the same brown, shriveled fate.

{Bright Lights Swiss Chard}

But the swiss chard will keep going...

{my little toughie}

... and keep going! So many people think this plant acts like spinach. But swiss chard is in the beet family, and so much hardier in hot and cold. Unlike spinach, it has a big, thick taproot to draw energy from.

Swiss chard doesn't bolt and go to seed in the hot summer sun, and it holds up to the cold better than anything else I've planted. With that big taproot, you can cut swiss chard down and it resprouts new leaves beautifully. So when I titled this post I'm saying swiss chard isn't "tough" as in hard to chew - but "tough" as in tough as nails. I may even get to harvest more this month...

Loretta