Swiss chard's thick red stem, which can be cooked separately from the leaves, makes it unique.

Swiss chard's thick red stem, which can be cooked separately from the leaves, makes it unique.

Kohlrabi is related to cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli, but is know for its thickened stem, which is shaped like a turnip.

Transplants and seeds of kale can be planted in September.

Swiss chard's thick red stem, which can be cooked separately from the leaves, makes it unique.

Swiss chard's thick red stem, which can be cooked separately from the leaves, makes it unique.

October is a great time to plant cool-season vegetables into your garden. They include beet, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrot, cauliflower, celery, Chinese cabbage, collard, endive, garlic, kale, kohlrabi, leek, lettuce, mustard, onion, peas (English, edible podded and snow), radish, rape, rutabaga, shallot, Swiss chard and turnip.

Here, however, I thought it would be good to look at some of the less well-known cool-season vegetables that deserve to be planted more often.

Swiss chard is a leafy vegetable that is reliable, very productive and an especially attractive, colorful plant. Some types of Swiss chard are pretty enough for the flower garden.

We harvest and consume the leaves of this plant. A unique feature that sets Swiss chard apart from all the other greens is a thick, succulent leaf stem (petiole). It somewhat resembles a stalk of celery, and can be a wide range of colors, including white, pink, rose, red, magenta, orange, yellow and gold. Swiss chard is considered one of the most nutritious vegetables.

When preparing the leaves, the leaf blades are often removed from the leaf stems and cooked separately, although the stems can be cut up and cooked with the greens. Cooked Swiss chard leaves taste similar to cooked spinach. Young, tender chard leaves can be eaten raw, adding a beet-like flavor to salads and sandwiches.

The stalks may be prepared separately from the greens. You can boil or steam them until tender or chop and sauté in olive oil with a little garlic or slice and stir-fry in an Asian-style dish. The color is mostly retained in cooking.

Seeds or transplants may be planted into the garden now through March. Plant seeds about 1/4 inch deep and about 6 inches apart. Thin the plants to a spacing of 6 to 12 inches. Add the young plants that are removed when thinning to salads.

Plant transplants 6 to 12 inches apart. When the plants are about a foot tall, you may begin harvesting the lower leaves by taking a few leaves from each plant. This harvest will continue from fall into early summer next year, making Swiss chard extremely productive.

Some popular Swiss chard varieties are Rhubarb (red), Fordhook Giant (white), Geneva (white), Bright Lights (multicolor), Rainbow (multicolor), Magenta Sunset (magenta orange) and Vulcan (red). If you have never grown Swiss chard, it’s time you gave it a try. You will appreciate its reliability, ease of cultivation and the delicious foliage it produces.

Kohlrabi is related to cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli, but is know for its thickened stem, which is shaped like a turnip.

Kohlrabi is closely related to cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli. Unlike its relatives grown for edible leaves and flower buds, kohlrabi is grown for its thickened stem, which is shaped like a turnip — but produced above ground. There are green and purple varieties.

The flesh of the swollen stem is crisp, slightly sweet and mild in flavor. Plants are generally harvested when the swollen stem is about the size of a tennis ball (although there are types that grow larger). To harvest, cut the plant off just below the swollen stem. Leave the roots in the garden to decompose and add organic matter to the soil.

To prepare kohlrabi, first peel the stem to remove the outer layer, which can be tough. The peeled kohlrabi can be shredded or julienned and added fresh to salads. Raw pieces make a great addition to a vegetable platter with a dip. The kohlrabi can be sliced and added to stir-fries or cooked like you would turnips. It is very versatile.

Seeds or transplants can be planted now in your vegetable garden in well-prepared beds. Kohlrabi is ready to harvest rather quickly (much faster than its relatives). Harvest can begin in as little as six weeks for transplants and eight weeks if direct seeded.

Transplants and seeds of kale can be planted in September.

Most gardeners are familiar with nutritious and easy-to-grow kales of various types. The most unusual kale has to be Lancinato kale, also known as dinosaur kale — due to the pebbly, dinosaur skin-like surface of the dark green, narrow leaves.

You may plant this month using seeds or transplants. When the plants are about a foot tall, begin harvesting by cutting or breaking off the lower, largest leaves. This is called cropping. The plant will continue to grow, and you can continue to crop the leaves until late spring or early summer. So you get a lot of harvest over a long season from a fall planting.

Another out-of-the-ordinary vegetable is an heirloom variety of Daikon radish called watermelon radish. The watermelon radish has pale green skin that's quite different from the red-skinned radishes we typically grow. When you cut into the radish, the inside is dark pink — looking like a watermelon with light red flesh and a green rind (hence the name). The flavor is mild, a little peppery and slightly sweet. The flesh is crisp and delicious and perfect to use raw in salads like you do other radishes.

Sow seeds directly in the garden. Plant seeds generously and then thin the plants so that those remaining are spaced about 3 inches apart. They are ready to harvest about two months after planting when they are about 3 inches in diameter.

Carrots are not an unusual crop. But there are colors other than the usual orange, and they are certainly out of the ordinary. Now, you can grow carrots that are purple, white, red or yellow. A packet of rainbow carrot seeds will produce carrots in a wide variety of colors. The purple carrots, like Purple Haze, Cosmic Purple and Purple Dragon, are not only beautiful and unusual, but they are more nutritious than orange carrots.

Direct seed carrots into the garden. Plant seeds generously in rows and thin them to stand about 2 inches apart. Harvest when the top of the root is about an inch in diameter, about 70 days from planting the seeds.

Garden columnist Dan Gill answers readers' questions each week. To send a question, email Gill at gnogardening@agcenter.lsu.edu.

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Dan Gill is a retired consumer horticulture specialist with the LSU AgCenter. He hosts the “Garden Show” on WWL-AM Saturdays at 9 a.m. Email gardening questions to gnogardening@agcenter.lsu.edu.

"To nurture a garden is to feed not just the body, but the soul."

Alfred Austin, poet and gardener

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