GROWING SPINACH

By Ed Shortes, U.C. Cooperative Extension Master Gardener,

El Dorado County

Spinach is tasty in a salad but also wonderful cooked with a few pieces of bacon. When I was a child I was sure that eating spinach would make me as strong as Popeye, Spinach is a cool weather crop that can be planted in the fall to grow until cold weather sets in, at which time it slows it’s growth until spring. It can also be planted very early in spring, as soon as the soil can be worked. If you forget the early planting you can buy six-packs and transplant to the garden. I have found that when spinach plants first emerge I have to cover them with bird netting. After they grow to a couple of inches high the netting can be removed. If the plants come up too close together, thin them and eat the young sprouts in salads. Eventually the plants should be 6-12 inches apart.

Spinach can be planted in partial shade, and must not be allowed to dry out – it needs about 1” of water per week – rain or irrigation. Spinach, like most leafy plants, needs plenty of nitrogen. As soon as the weather heats up the plants will go to seed, or “bolt”. The average frost does not injure the plant. Do not weed around the plants because the roots are very shallow. Also don’t work in the plants when the leaves are wet or diseases can be spread. If your spinach gets leaf miners (tiny worms in the leaves) just pinch off and destroy the damaged leaf. Spring spinach matures in about 45 days. To save space in the garden lettuce plants can be transplanted between spinach because the spinach will be pulled and eaten first, leaving space for the lettuce to mature. Alternatively, summer crops, such as tomatoes, peppers, beans and squash, can be planted in the same space as soon as the spinach is pulled.

The most common varieties of spinach are Melody and America, with Bloomindale being a more heat tolerant variety. Tyee is also good. New Zealand and Malabar spinach are not true spinach but the taste is similar. They are vines that require support and thrive in hot weather.