Favorite de Saint-Tropez rustic chard

Beta vulgaris Mac Gregor's Favorite x Beta vulgaris maritima, Amaranthaceae

One day, we forgot some Mac Gregor's Favorite purple leaf beet in the garden (that Scottish heritage beauty), and they survived the winter, much to our surprise... They came back in the spring, flowered and gave us seed. That year, our friend Telsing Andrews of the late Aster Lane Edibles shared with us seeds of a recent cross of her own, from a hardy Swiss chard and maritime chard. This chard, Beta vulgaris maritima is the botanical ancestor of all beets, and is still used today in crosses to develop commercial hybrid varieties, as it confers general resistance to pathogens.

We eventually grew them all at the same time and let them rustle together, and a vigorous line of hardy chard is now emerging from this union... sometimes purple with near-metallic reflections like Mac Gregor's Favorite, sometimes voluminous and salty like maritime chard, often combining all these qualities. Over time, we hope to stabilize a fine hardy variety of perpetual chard from this line!

bag = about 85 glomerules

Artisanal seeds produced on an esker here at La société des plantes, Kamouraska, Qc.