Thinning out Swiss Chard and Beets

[BegoniaWarrior]

I planted my chard and beets in my raised bed and I want to thin them out but I want to do it the right way.
I read that I can use snips to cut the plants to thin the row rather than pulling them up and disturbing the keepers roots.
Any suggestions?
*How tall before I thin?
*Best way to thin?


Thank you

[rainbowgardener]

Although chard and beets are just different varieties of the same species (bred to focus on leaves or roots), I would thin them differently.

Since the root is what you want of the beet, it's more important not to disturb it, so I would just snip the extras, relatively soon before they get very big.

For the chard I would leave them until they are baby green sized (the chard is pretty tolerant of crowding) and then pull the whole plant of the extras and eat them.

But remember since your beet greens are just a variety of chard, you can eat them too!

[vivid]

I use to feel so guilty when thinning my beets until I realized how delicious the tops are sauteed in a bit of olive oil and garlic. It resolved the destination journey issue. I was so focused on the root the top was forgotten...it's ALL good.