Plant spotlight: Spinach!

He’s strong to the finich ’cause he eats his spinach, he’s Popeye the sailor man!

Nutritional benefits

Good Source of: vitamin K, vitamin A, manganese, folate, magnesium, iron, vitamin C, vitamin B2 (riboflavin), calcium, potassium, vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), tryptophan, dietary fiber, copper, vitamin B1 (thiamin), protein, phosphorus, zinc, vitamin E, omega 3 fatty acids, vitamin B3 (niacin), selenium

Related vegetables: quinoa, beet, swiss chard

Other Wellness Benefits: Flavanoids contained in spinach have been shown in research studies to reduce growth of cancer cells. Folate contained in spinach reduces risk of heart disease and lowers blood pressure.

See, Popeye was right. Eat your spinach!

Best Varieties to Grow

There are numerous Spinach cultivars. Cultivars with “savoyed” leaves have crinkly leaves. “Baby spinach” is a general term used to describe the young, smooth leaves of spinach plants.

Bloomsdale Long Standing: This is an open-pollinated variety that is bolt-resistant, good for salads, and has glossy savoyed leaves.

Winter Queen: grows well during the winter, large textured leaves

Summer Supreme: tolerates summer heat

Baby Leaf: Best picked when small, has smooth, round leaves.

Companion Planting and Crop Rotation

Spinach tastes best when the leaves are young. It is a good idea to plant a row of spinach every two to three weeks, starting in early spring, until early summer. You can resume this schedule of planting again in early fall. Spinach grows well with beans, cabbage, celery, onions and peas. It is not happy when growing near potatoes. During the summer, you can grow cucumbers, summer squash, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and other warm-season crops.

Starting Seeds Indoors

Spinach, for the most part, grows best when directly seeded into the garden. If you have had problems with successful germination in the past, you might consider “chitting” the seeds, or placing seeds between two wet paper towels, in a plastic bag, in the refrigerator overnight before planting. This will allow the seed to begin germinating. The seeds can then be sown outdoors as normal.

Planting/transplanting

Starting seeds outdoors: Sow seeds outdoors approximately three times the depth of the seed when temperatures are between 10 and 25 degrees Celsius. Spinach grows best in cool weather and should be planted early in the spring or in late summer to produce a fall crop. For best yield, harvest continually and make successive plantings every 10 days.

Spacing: Mature spinach plants generally need at least six to ten inches of space between them. Because the germination rate of directly seeded spinach varies greatly depending upon the soil, sun and weather conditions, and because immature spinach leaves are great in salads, it is better to sow rather thickly, and thin out extra, unnecessary plants as they grow. Spinach grown too close together will bolt more quickly.

Soil type: Happiest in a soil pH of 6.0-7.5 and a soil rich in organic matter.

Sunlight: Full sun

Seasonal Care

Watering: Spinach needs to stay evenly moist throughout the growing season, and responds to light, frequent watering.

Feeding: This is a heavy feeder. Soils should be amended with compost prior to planting, and then side-dressed with an organic fertilizer every three or four weeks during the growing season. (Side-dressing means sprinkling fertilizer along the planting row, about three to four inches from the plant stem.)

Pollination: Spinach is wind pollinated. If you want to save your own spinach seed, let the plants bolt and produce flowers. Harvest the seeds when they are dry and about to fall off the plant.

Companion plants: strawberries, beans, celery, onion, peas, broccoli, cabbage, kale

Special Requirements: Spinach varieties will cross-pollinate with each other, so if you want to save pure seed, grow only one variety of spinach at a time, or grow varieties that will bolt and mature at different times of the year so that you do not accidentally create your own hybrids.

Pests and Diseases Affecting Spinach

Spring crops of spinach are more likely to be affected by pests and diseases than fall crops. Common pests of spinach include: aphid, beet leafhopper, cabbage looper, cabbage-worm, flea beetle, leaf miner, slugs and snails.

Diseases include curly top (spread by beet leafhopper), damping off, downy mildew, fusarium wilt, leaf spot, and spinach blight.

Follow proper organic pest control methods depending on what is attacking your plants.

Harvesting for Food

Which part of the plant to harvest: Leaves

When to harvest: Spinach can be harvested for eating at any time during its life cycle. It is difficult to grow more than one variety of spinach at a time if you plan on saving the seed. You can alternate varieties for this purpose.

How to harvest: Early in the season, spinach can be harvested by individually picking the outermost leaves from the plant, with new leaves left to sprout from the center. As the spinach plant nears a bolting stage (you can just barely see the flower stalk from the center of the leaves), you can cut off the entire plant to the ground (the leaves will grow back), or pull up the entire plant.

How to Prepare: Spinach can be steamed, baked into quiche, casseroles or gratins, eaten raw on salads, or added to green smoothies. Its mild flavor makes it ideal to pair with a variety of meats, grains, pastas and other vegetables.

Spinach Storage

Storage conditions: Spinach can be blanched and frozen, and also pickled or canned. Fresh spinach keeps well if washed, dried and stored in a salad spinner for up to 10 days. (Though its nutrient capacity will be highest when it is fresh.)

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