Rhubarb chard 'Bali'
Rhubarb chard, sometimes known as ruby chard, is a vegetable that was seen for many years as a rather odd sort of perennial spinach. Now it is seen as a valuable vegetable in its own right. More closely related to beetroot, rather than spinach, both its stems and its leaves are valuable in the kitchen and as an ornamental vegetable and in recent years there have been a number of interesting developments.
Rhubarb chard ‘Bali’ was one of the stars of the recent RHS trial, which revealed what attractive and high-quality plants these chards have become. ‘Bali’ is a special selection of the old rhubarb chard, developed in Lincolnshire. It is a vast improvement over older types.
This is a productive variety which is easy to grow and, in particular, the assessment panel pointed out that ‘Bali’ is a 'superb stock of this type of popular chard. High in both quality and yield, and very uniform.' They also noted its vigour, and the earthy flavour of its blistered purplish foliage. They pointed out there was no bolting among those direct sown or among those raised in modules before planting out.
It’s also worth noting that ‘Bali’ was one of the few of the 32 entries in the trial that did not suffer from mildew although, like most of the others, germination was a little erratic owing to the dry weather around sowing time. In the home garden, watering the drills before sowing will ensure more even germination.