The Swiss Chard - A Little History and Some Growing Instructions Swiss chard is a cold tolerant biennial that is closely related to the beet. It is native to southern Europe and much older than the beet. It is believed to have developed from a form of wild beet thousands of years ago. White, yellow and dark green forms of chard have been known since ancient times. Aristotle mentions a red-stalked chard around 350 BC. Swiss chard has been grown both as a vegetable crop and also as an ornamental. It was introduced into the United States by the colonists who considered it another form of beet grown for its greens. In the 1848 it was listed among the beets. It was written that, “This is a hardy biennial
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