Did You Know…
Spinach (Spinacia oleracea) cultivation began about 2000 years ago in the middle east and reached Europe much later around the 1100’s. Spinach is in the amaranth family and is related to Swiss chard, beets, lambs quarters, the grain amaranths and the ornamental cockscomb. The leafy greens also used to be known as the goose foot family because supposedly the leaves somewhat resembled a gooses foot – takes a bit of imagination to see that. The US is the world’s second largest producer of spinach and most of the spinach we consume is produced domestically.
Types of Spinach
Spinach types are generally classified by the amount of “crinkling” the leaves have from savoy to semi savoy to flat or smooth leaf. The savoy types are often preferred for the fresh market while the flat leaf varieties are especially important for the canned and frozen market because they are easier to clean. Spinach is a low growing plant and tends to get a fair amount of grit on the leaves. Varieties suggested by Master Gardeners our area include Bloomsdale – an old savoy type, Melody- an AAS winner savoy type with better disease resistance, Space – a smooth variety with resistance to bolting and Tyee – a semi savoy type with good resistance to bolting. In our garden, we have also had good success with the savoy variety Hybrid No. 7. If you like really large spinach leaves, we’ve harvested leaves over a foot long from the variety Giant Nobel.
When to Plant
Spinach is a cool season plant that we most often direct seed into the garden. For best germination, soil temperatures should be in the range of mid 40’s to low 70’s. Fall plantings are usually from late September to late October depending on when the summer heat finally fades. Spring planting timing is 6 weeks before the average last freeze date so about mid-February in our area. Spinach is quite cold hardy and can tolerate temperatures in the teens once established. Most years our fall planted spinach will continue to produce right through the winter and into the early spring. Warm weather in the spring induces the plants to flower – AKA “bolt” – and the quality and quantity of the leaves diminishes rapidly signaling the end of the season. Spring plantings must be made early enough to mature the plants before warm spring weather induces bolting. Overall, our fall plantings have been more reliable and productive than our spring plantings. This is my wife’s favorite leafy green, so I grow about 200 plants which give us plenty and some to share.
Harvest and Storage
Spinach leaves can be harvested anytime the size is appropriate for the intended use – i.e. small leaves for salads and larger leaves for cooking. The leaves are pinched or snipped off near the crown of the plant taking care not to damage the new developing leaves. We harvest spinach leaves every 3 to 5 days depending on the weather throughout the cool season. Once warm weather arrives and before the plants bolt, we pull the entire plant and harvest all the leaves that are good sized. Spinach can be stored in the refrigerator for a week to 10 days in a sealed plastic bag with paper towels to absorb excess moisture. Spinach can also be frozen, canned and dried for longer term storage.
By: Michael Vidrine
Wine Pairing with Spinach
5 tips for Wine Pairings with Spinach:
