The leaf beet group encompasses Swiss chard, beet spinach, perpetual spinach, and their relatives: all cultivars selected for generous leaf production rather than swollen roots. Their origins lie in the same Mediterranean wild beet as the garden beet, and they carry that ancestry in their toughness and adaptability. The stems are the defining feature in many cultivars, ranging from white through lemon yellow and deep gold to vivid scarlet and purple, and they make these plants genuinely useful in ornamental borders as well as kitchen plots. The leaves themselves are glossy, large, and mildly flavored, tender when young and raw, best cooked once fully mature.

They grow fastest in cool temperatures but keep producing through summer's heat as long as moisture is consistent. Unlike their beet relatives, the biennial cultivars in this group do not bolt to seed in their first year, which means they hold their productive quality longer in warm weather. Harvest the outermost, largest leaves first, working inward, and the plant will keep replacing them for months. Baby leaves are ready in about thirty days; full-size leaves in sixty. In a container of at least two quarts with eight inches of depth, they grow as well as in open ground, making them ideal for anyone working with limited space.