Broad green leaves on a low plant barely 6 to 10 inches high, spinach (Spinacia oleracea) is a fast annual you can start picking about six weeks after sowing, for eating cooked or raw. It dislikes heat and dry spells, so keep the soil moist at all times and the harvest is usually abundant.
| Name | Spinocia oleracea |
|---|---|
| Family | Amaranthaceae |
| Type | vegetable, annual |
| Height | 6 to 10 inches (20 to 30 cm) |
| Exposure | part sun, shade in warm climates |
| Soil | rich enough |
| Harvest | all year round |
Caring for it is easy and the harvest is often abundant if is cared for a little bit.
Ideal sowing dates for spinach are at the beginning of spring and at the end of summer.
Spinach abhors heat and would not cope well with summer heat.
Summer harvest: direct sowing of spinach from Early spring to late spring.
Fall and winter harvest: Sow your spinach from Late summer to early autumn.
Be careful, spinach doesn’t cope well with strong heat.
Proceed to sowing in rows with a seed depth of about 1 inch (2 to 3 cm) and thin as soon as the first leaves appear to intervals of about 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 cm).
This is a vegetable well suited to container growing, it is very easy to grow spinach in pots on a terrace or balcony.
Sowing in pots is the same as direct sowing in the ground, except that special care must be given to ensure that the soil remains moist.
This means it is important to water regularly. If not, it’ll go to seed much too early.
Spinach care entails a few basic tasks, especially in summer when it’s hotter.
Spinach hates dry spells and high temperatures.
It is important to mulch the ground in summer to retain soil moisture and also to protect them from the first frost spells.
If your spinach comes to fall victim to mosaic, which means, leaves turn different colors, pull out diseased plants and destroy them.
Spinach hates it when there are too many snails and slugs in the garden. Mildew, a type of mold, will cause yellow streaks on leaves. Young sprouts are often vulnerable to damping off.
Note the aforementioned cucumber mosaic virus which weakens plants, too.
Growing spinach is easy and quick. You can harvest them 1 ½ months after sowing.
If you collect a few leaves on a regular basis, you will stimulate new growth. If you pull out the whole plant, it won’t grow back.
Spinach can be eaten both cooked and raw, and having grown them yourself gives them an extra special taste…
To keep spinach leaves, it is best to freeze them. First though, wash them and chop them up into large pieces.
Another option is to blanch them in boiling water for 1 minute, dunking them immediately in cold water right after time is up. This technique will keep the spinach green. After blanching, you can freeze them.
Lastly, fresh leaves will keep well for a few days in the vegetable compartment in the refrigerator.
Most varieties of spinach are clumping, but a few are vining and will need a trellis.
‘Monstrueux de Viroflay’ spinach
The five varieties described above differ mainly in when they are sown, how long the picking lasts and how well they stand up to heat or disease. Use the table to match a variety to the season you want to harvest in.
| Variety | Leaf | When to sow | Main strength |
|---|---|---|---|
| ‘Bloomsdale Long Standing’ | Savoyed | Spring and late summer | The old American standard, slow to bolt for an heirloom |
| ‘Giant Winter’ | Smooth | Late summer to autumn | The hardiest for overwintering outdoors |
| ‘Viroflay’ | Smooth | Spring or late summer | Very large leaves, heavy pickings |
| ‘Medania’ | Semi-savoyed | Spring to late summer | Resists downy mildew and holds before bolting |
| ‘Matador’ | Smooth | Spring and autumn | A dependable all-rounder in most soils |
| ‘Tyee’ F1 | Semi-savoyed | Spring | Stands longest in spring heat without bolting |
| ‘Corvair’ F1 | Smooth | Spring and autumn | Bred against downy mildew |
| ‘Space’ F1 | Smooth | Spring and autumn | Good both as baby leaf and grown on |
| ‘Renegade’ F1 | Smooth | Spring and autumn | Quick to fill out, upright habit |
| ‘Samish’ F1 | Semi-savoyed | Spring and autumn | Thick leaves that keep after picking |
| ‘Emilia’ F1 | Smooth | Spring to autumn | Small, tender leaves for salad |
| ‘Reddy’ F1 | Smooth | Spring to autumn | Red stems and veins, for salad colour |
| ‘Red Kitten’ F1 | Smooth | Spring to autumn | Red-veined baby leaf, quick to cut |
| ‘Symphony’ F1 | Smooth | Spring | Fairly hardy, spring into early summer |
| ‘Lagos’ F1 | Smooth | Summer | Takes summer heat without running to seed |
| ‘Lazio’ F1 | Smooth | Spring | Resists most of the common diseases |
| ‘Perpetual Spinach’ | Leaf beet | Spring | Not a true spinach: cut and come again all season |
Most varieties are clumping, but a few are vining and will need a trellis.
Native to Iran, spinach has long been appreciated for its taste and its excellent nutritional value.
Cultivation quickly spread widely and at the beginning of the XIIth century it appeared in Europe. It was particularly savored by Catherine de Medicis, who made it a popular vegetable.
Although there is a certain amount of iron in spinach, Popeye is responsible for most of the hype. In reality, iron levels aren’t much higher than those of other nutritious plants.
Spinach does have high nitrate levels, which are converted into nitrites through the chewing process in the mouth, and ultimately into vitamin B9.
Raw spinach contains lots of vitamin C. Note a high amount of vitamin E, pro-vitamin A, calcium, magnesium and fiber.
Whatever the details, eating spinach is excellent for health, both cooked and raw.
Spinach needs rich and moist soil: smart gardeners mulch with flax or cocoa hulls to reduce evaporation, enrich the soil, and avoid weeds.
Spinach is excellent green manure and is perfect when included in crop rotation plans to enrich poor soil.
