BEETS AND CHARD 89 



to pick the outer ones for greens. Keep on cut- 

 ting the outside leaves as they grow, and the big 

 plants will keep on growing, all the season 

 through. In time the leaves will be so large that 

 the thickened leaf-stem may be used in salad like 

 celery, or cooked like asparagus. Then the outer 

 leaf -blades are stripped from the midrib and used 

 as greens. Try blanching some of the plants by 

 tying close together the big leaf clusters. After a 

 short time, you will find the hearts white and 

 crisp and delicate of flavor, ready to be used fresh 

 with other vegetables as a cool tempting salad. 

 The more Swiss chard is fed and tended, the big- 

 ger and crisper will the plants become. They will 

 keep on growing until long after frost. I have 

 found fresh green leaves even until Christmas. 

 The light snow had heaped over the row; and 

 there had been no wind to blow the plants bare. 

 So until the "January thaw," for just the bother 

 of pushing away the drift, there was plenty of 

 fresh crisp greens at the heart of the plants. Some 

 care will be needed to protect the growing beets, 

 all of the varieties, from enemies and disease. 

 Tobacco dust will keep away the fleas and the 

 leaf -miner, the worst enemies of the beet. 



