Spinach is another garden staple that everyone should grow. It grows quickly, has a ton of uses, and has very few pests and problems. On top of being so functional and easy, spinach is a powerhouse when it comes to nutritious leafy greens.
Spinach Details
- Family: Amaranthaceae
- Growing Season: Spring or fall
- Growing Zones: 3 through 10
- Spacing: 4 inches (10 cm) apart
- Seed to Harvest time: 30-45 days
- Indoor Starting: Not recommended
- Earliest Planting: As soon as ground can be worked
- Watering: Water when soil is dry, keeping soil moist, but never wet. Do not over water.
- Sunlight Requirements: Full sun to partial shade
- Planting: plant seeds 1/2 inch (1.25cm deep)
- Weeding: Weed daily where possible.
- Harvesting: Harvest leaves as desired. After the weather warms up above 70F (21C) harvest the whole plant as spinach bolts in the 80F (26C) range.
- Known Pests: Aphids, remove with insecticidal soap or introduce predatory insect species where permissible.
More About Spinach
Spinach is a more approachable leafy green than kale. Spinach tends to be more flavorful, less bitter, easy to cook with, and easier to grow. While it isn’t the perfect vegetable as it prefers cooler climates which limit when it can be grown, it is still a highly recommended vegetable for most gardens.
Spinach really is quite nutritious. It has very low calories and is packed full of vitamin K. While being less bitter than kale and having a lot of nutrition is likely why its a fan favorite for fitness smoothies.
Spinach Tasting and Food Notes
Spinach has a mellow leafy green flavor with a light bitterness. It’s a noticeable, but not a pronounced flavor that makes it work really well with a lot of different foods. Spinach finds itself eaten raw a s a classic spinach and mandarin salad. Steamed or sauteed it becomes a recognizable side dish with most simple meals. Adding it into food it where it really shines though.
Spinach and Swiss cheese really go well together and are a classic pairing on both sandwiches and in omelettes. Spinach is also at home in both smoothies and stir fries equally well which is a testament to its ability to blend into it’s surrounding flavors.
On a note of preservation, spinach freezes well, but it can also be canned or dried quite easily and used many months after it was grown. While all of the preservation methods can reduce the structure of spinach, much of its nutrition is the same. Freezing will get you the most back out of the plant from a raw nutrient standpoint, but any other method is comparable.
Should I Grow Spinach In My Garden?
If you like spinach, you should grow it. It doesn’t take up much space, it’s easy to care for, and it cooks into many dishes. The only people who should avoid spinach are those who live in hot climates who may not have adequate time to get a full harvest before the plant bolts.