Mary, my suggestion would be to divide them as follows: I used this method a few years ago when I oversowed in small pots too densely and it nonetheless worked. First really soak each pack so that the individual plants can be teased apart with less damage to the roots. By "really soak" I mean first water the packs very well, then gently remove them from their containers and put the clumps of plants in a pot of water up to the soil line so that you are virtually soaking the soil or rooting medium off the individual plants. Don't leave them sitting in the water too long, just enough to make the roots separateable, so you have to work kind of quickly. When you loosen up the plant clump enough to divide, then transplant where/how you want them to end up. Swiss chard will eventually produce a plant about a foot in diameter at least. It's your choice whether you want a closely-spaced mass in the perennial garden or not, your aesthetic judgment. As far as potting up for eating, yes chard can be raised in containers. I would think about a one-half to one gallon pot per plant. Chard is a member of the beet family and they produce a sort of cylindrical beet-like root. Hope this helps.

Yep direct sowing worked for me but I think it might still be too hot to start down here. I'm going to start mine September 1st or so. I suggest you plant it in intervals because it really grows fast (especially the baby ones) and it's nicer to have a little for a long time than a whole bunch all at once. I've not grown it in the fall but I think it might take close to freezing so I'm planning on using a cold frame to keep growing it all winter. Might want to think about that.

Jay, I harvest Choy Sum the same way Chinese Broccoli (Gai Lan or Kai Lan) is harvested. So far I have picked twice from the plant sown on Ang.7 and the little stem for a 3rd picking is already showing. The 1st harvest gives me a beautiful rosette with a center stem surrounded with leaves and maybe a center flower head. The 2nd harvest is exactly the same rosette form and as beautiful and tasty as the 1st. The rosette is very showy in cooking presentation. Choy Sum in Chinese means "Center of the vegetable" and is often eaten in the rosette form so people can enjoy the center (a feast to the eyes and the taste buds). Unlike many leafy vegetables, Choy Sum center flowers taste great and flowering does not change the taste of the leaves. Too bad I didn't take any pictures before eating them. I was told that a Gai Lan plant can keep producing side shoots for up to 3-5 pickings. But the side shoots gets smaller after each time, and finally becomes impractical. I have not noticed significant size changes yet, but will not be surprised if it does get smaller. Come to think of it, maybe it'll be better to grow the regular Choy Sum so the 4th or 5th picking will not be too diminutive?

I forgot to mention we have 2 mature oak trees and 1 birch tree in front which get dappled sunlight throughout the day. On the backyard there is 2 mature red maple and 1 hickory shagbark. These past fall we got all the oak and maple trees raised the canopy significantly which hopefully in spring and summer we can see the difference in sunlight penetration. So establishing a lawn doing dormant seeding in the backyard which is almost from scratch is close to impossible? Thanks again.