The More You Grow: Growing and Harvesting Garden Spinach

It keeps growing and growing and growing!

We have had about 8 complete pickings of spinach leaves since May 6th. That's a ton of regrowth! Spinach plants can grow new leaves in a matter of DAYS after being picked. Crazy fast!

When do you plant spinach?

Spinach season begins with the cold crop planting, so we plant some in early Spring around mid-March that lasts until the summer heat arrives. You can also plant in early August for a Fall crop through October.

Why grow spinach?

There are so many benefits in consuming spinach. It is high in potassium, antioxidants, iron, vitamins E, A, and C, zinc, magnesium, and fiber. These help protect the heart and brain, reduce anemia, inflammation, and cancer risk, and boosts immunity, vision, and weight management. It's also great for your hair, skin, and nails!

https://share.upmc.com/2023/03/health-benefits-of-spinach/

How do you know spinach is ready?

When your leaves are looking to be around 2" - 3" from stem to tip of leaf, it's time to pick! Anything smaller than that, I try to leave on until they're about that size. This leaf size has more of a tender, sweet flavor. It's really a preference thing, so if a sweeter spinach is your jam, pick the baby spinach! If you let them get too big, chances are the spinach will taste bitter. This happens at the end of the season, too, when summer temperatures arrive.

Where do you pick spinach leaves from?

When picking spinach, we simply pinch the stem at the base of the leaf, and pull. This allows the leaf and part of the stem to be picked, while keeping the rest of the stem on the plant to produce another leaf. Pick from the larger leaves on the outside first, and work your way toward the middle. Some people find that cutting the stem is a better option. I just don't always have scissors on me when I head to the garden, so pinch and pull it is!

What do you do with all of that spinach?

The longest I've had spinach last in the refrigerator was about a couple of weeks. I store it in a gallon bag with a paper towel after washing. The beauty about spinach is its versatility, and you can add it to just about any dish that you're making. We love to mix it in salads, substitute it for lettuce on tacos, or put in omelets and casseroles. I've even chopped it up into tiny pieces and added it to hamburger patties and spaghetti sauce and the kids didn't even notice. You can freeze it, mix it in with any soup, or add it (fresh or frozen) to a smoothie!

Growing and harvesting garden spinach is one of the easiest, most beneficial things you can do in your garden this year. You can plant it on its own, or near some cold crop companion plants like onions, peas, or radishes. Potatoes are not one that you'd want spinach to be next to, as they suck most of the moisture out of the ground. Spinach truly is the plant that keeps on giving all season, as long as you keep picking! :)

Happy growing!