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If you're growing spinach in your garden, you know it's a really flexible vegetable with many uses in the kitchen. Furthermore, it's among the heaIthiest vegetables to eat! Spinach grows best in cooler weather, so plant some to keep gardening and eating fresh produce into the cooler months. One of the great things about growing spinach is that it doesn't require much time to reach harvest. Actually, you can eat the leaves at any time, so it's ready to be harvested whenever you want a spinach dish. Spinach History Wild spinach is believed to come from the Middle East and southwest Asia. It was first cultivated as a crop in Persia, before spreading east and west to China and the Mediterranean region. It was made popular throughout Europe by the French in the 14th century. It was also well-liked in England and Germany at this time. Some time later, in the 1800s, it made the trip across the Atlantic to be farmed by Americans. Although best well-known for its iron content, spinach has many other good vitamins and minerals. It's got a lot of Vitamins A, C, and K, plus folate (Vitamin B), so it's one of the healthiest vegetables to eat. Growing Spinach As usual, the first thing to prepare is the soil. Spinach does not like acidity, so make sure your soil has a pH of about 6.5. Remember that 7.0 is neutral, less than 7 is acidic, and above 7 is basic. Besides acidity, make sure that your soil has a high amount of nitrogen. Spinach likes a loamy soil, so make sure you have a good blend that's not primarily clay or mostly sand. In addition, to make the best loam, make sure you have loaded it with lots of compost prior to planting. Once your soil is prepared, ensure the temperature is right. Spinach can grow at much cooler temperatures than many other vegetables, so 50 degrees F is when you can get started. Moving on to seeds, it's best to use relatively fresh ones, although spinach seeds can work up to 3 years before planting. When sowing your spinach seeds, put them about 1/2" deep into the ground, and space them at 4-6" linearly, with 12" between rows. There's a reason for keeping them spread out like this, and that's so that thinning is kept to a minimum. Spinach roots are very sensitive as seedlings, so having to transplant or disrupt seedlings too close together can cause damage to them. So it's best to give them room to grow. Just think of it as trading space for time or effort. Spinach requires more than 3/4 inch of rain weekly. So be ready to water if you don't receive enough rainfall. Diseases and Problems There are 2 common issues to understand when growing spinach. The first issue concerns molds and fungi. Spinach likes cool and damp environments, but so does fungus and mold. Take the proper precautions to make sure that water doesn't linger longer than needed. This includes ensuring that the area is well ventilated (the spacing should help with this) and well drained. You can also do your manual watering in the late morning, to promote evaporation. Secondly, if your spinach grows slowly and shows indications of yellowing leaves, you may be using a soil that's too acidic, as mentioned above. Prevention is the best solution here, so you may want to get your soil analyzed before growing. Harvesting Once your spinach has grown enough, you can start harvesting. Just cut the outer leaves off with a knife, a few inches from the ground. Leave the inner leaves to continue growing. Spinach is great in this regard, as you can just pull as much as you need at a time, and let it continue growing for later. Finally, if you want to learn more about how to grow spinach, including varieties and pests, head over to my website Vegetable Gardens Made Easy.
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