Growing Spinach

Spinach has specific growing requirements and if you procrastinate you will miss out on this delicious  and nutritious green.

Spinach needs a good 6 weeks of cool weather.  It can be planted when soil temperatures are 55-65 degrees or as soon as your ground can be worked  It will not germinate well in soils that are above 70 degrees.  It is not a summer crops  It can be sown again in fall and protected under row covers for late fall harvests.

The spinach plant is daylength sensitive.  This means it waits until there are a certain number of daylight hours and that is the signal to bolt or set seed. When daylight hours reach 12-15, your spinach knows it's time to produce seeds. It is at this point that you can determine the sex of you plants if that is important to you.  If you save seed that will be a factor. You need both male and female plants.

 Keep in mind that spinach is wind pollinated and the pollen is very fine and travels far.  You can only save seed from one variety and must have both male and female plants.  

Types of Spinach

There are two types of spinach leaves:  smooth and savoyed or wrinkled.  Some people prefer the smooth, but I like both and plant some of both.  The seed  type can be used to determine the leaf type.  The smooth seed produces wrinkled leaves while the prickly seed produces smooth leaves.  

Planting Guides

Spinach should be seeded directly in the garden it does not like to be transplanted. It can usually be seeded 3-4 weeks before the last frost date which for me is May 14th.  If I count back 4 weeks, that means around mid April 1st can begin planting.  If weather permits and the soil has warmed up, I plant even early and use a low tunnel or floating row covers.

 Give the plants ample space.  No more than 4 per square foot.  It is a good idea to successive plant every couple weeks in early spring but stop planting if you do not have 6 weeks of cool weather remaining.  It does not like temperature above 75 nor does spinach do well in fluctuating temperatures.

Plant in a soil with plenty of organic matter worked in and a dry organic fertilizer.  I use a mixture of bone meal and blood meal.  Fertilizing is not usually necessary after that as long as you prepared your soil.  Mulch around the seedlings and water regularly.  Spinach is very cold hardy and can survive in temperature as low as 15-20 degrees. 

Harvesting

I usually harvest the outer leaves so I can have a continuous harvest but the entire plant can be harvested.  The younger the leaves, the more tender and better flavored they are. Harvest in the morning.  Slightly rinse the leaves and store in a plastic container or plastic bag.  Do not clean thoroughly until you are ready to use the spinach.  

Spinach is store with lettuce and sorrel  in a large plastic air tight container.

I enjoy spinach raw in spinach salads or mixed with other greens. It's also very good in place of lettuce on sandwiches.  It is very nutritious with vitamins A, B6, C, folate, calcium, and iron. 

Spinach Strawberry Salad

Pests and Disease of Spinach

Spinach can get leaf miners and Mosaic virus which is called spinach blight.

Leaf Miners

Brown  and tan blotches on the leaves are a sign of leaf miners.  The adult is a fly that pupates in the soil and lays white eggs on the under side of the leaf.  The larvae called maggots (yuck) enter the leaf and create leaf mines.  They are hard to kill with pesticides because they are inside the leaf.  I pull off infected leaves so that the larvae don't mature and feed to livestock or chickens.  To help control leaf miners, cultivate or turn over the soil where you plant spinach, chard, and beets to kill the pupae.  Row covers can also keep the adult from laying eggs on the leaves.

Spinach Blight

Plants infected with spinach blight just need to be pulled up.  There is no cure for viruses and they can be spread by insects feeding on various plants. 

Varieties of Spinach

Bloomsdale Longstanding (OP):  This is the standard for spinach.  It's my favorite.  It has deeply savoyed (wrinkled leaves) and is deep green and wonderfully flavored for salads.  The leaves are upright off the ground.  

America (OP)  A savoyed type that is supposed to be slow to bolt. A Bloomsdale longstanding type.  A new variety I am trying this year.

Space (F1):  A smooth leafed spinach with spoon shaped leaves. 

Tyee (F1):  This is slightly savoyed leaf.

Giant Noble (H):  Heirloom of 1926.  Very large leafed, tender

Melody (F1):  Also very large leaves with upright growth

Butterflay:  Another good variety but low to the ground and more susceptible to problems because of that.



There are lots of other varieties to try but my garden will always have Bloomsdale Long Standing along with a other varieties.  Be sure to try a smooth leaf variety.  It will make that spinach salad much more interesting.

Summer Spinach

After all the talk about cool weather, both New Zealand Spinach and Malabar Spinach that can be grown in the summer.  The reason is that neither are a true spinach.

Malabar Spinach is a perennial vine in warm climates.  It prefers hot humid weather.  The leaves are used like spinach in salads.

New Zealand spinach needs warm soil to germinate and does not tolerate frost .  The leaves can be substituted in cooked dishes for spinach.  It is very high in oxalic acid which causes a flavor many people do not like.

Tips on Growing Peas

Most people are only familiar with frozen or canned peas.  But you to truly experience the sweet taste of peas you need to grow your own, pick them, shell them, and cook them immediately.  Then you have truly experienced what sweet peas taste like.  Of course them are incredibly delicious eaten fresh out of the pod so not many may make to the kitchen, but still you can say you have experienced the sublime taste of sweet peas.

Basic Pea Practice:

- Direct seed into the garden do not use transplants

- Plant when soil temperature has warmed to a minimum of 40F however germination will be slow.  If you wait til soil temperature is 55-60 they germinate quickly.

- A good sign to plant is to plant when the Forsythia blooms

-Don't allow the soil to dry out

- You can soak peas overnight in water before planting to speed up germination.

- Plan on trellising or supporting peas.

One of the earliest springs crops you can plant are peas.  They have a very specific growing conditions and a short season but are always worth it. They are happiest in cool spring weather and dislike summer heat.  While the plants are frost tolerate the flowers are not so fall plantings are not usually very productive.

  In my garden the majority of peas are eaten fresh out of the pod.  They are a delicious and sweet, healthy snack.  I always try to shell a few batches of peas and cook them for a few meals, but they rarely make it that far.  There is an amazing difference between steamed fresh and frozen peas.  My last option, if any peas are remaining, is to try to freeze some.  Truthfully the majority get eaten fresh. I never seem to have enough peas to preserve so I am always increasing my plantings.

 

Meet the Pea

Peas are part of a group of plants called legumes.  Legumes bear pods with the seed inside.    Peas are different from their other legume friends in that they can be enjoyed fresh.  Other legumes like lentil, cow-peas, and beans are eaten dried.  

There are Four Types of Peas:

Shelling peas:  Shelling peas have rounded vibrant green pods with starchy, sweet, round peas inside.  These peas are meant to be shelled from the pod.  They can be enjoyed fresh, canned, cooked, or in soups.

Edible pod peas:  These include snow peas which have flat pods with the peas visibly bulging from the pod.  The pods are enjoyed fresh, in stir fry's, and salads and should be picked very young.

Snap Peas:  Snap peas have rounded edible pods.  They are best when slightly cooked and eaten fresh.  They develop a string that is easily removed by peeling it back from the pod.

 Dried or Field Peas:  These are allowed to mature in the pod until dry and stored and used in soups or stews.

When choosing a variety consider the maturity date and the height of the plants.  There are bush variety of peas that only grow to 2 feet tall and need very little support and trellising.  These small varieties are usually determinate meaning they produce a set number of flowers and fruits then quit producing.  

My spring garden.  Snow peas are planted around small round tomato cages.

The vine types vary in size some reaching 4-5 feet tall.  They need  trellising.  Last year I grew Telegraph peas which mature to 5 ft.  The trellis needs to be very sturdy so it will not blow over in the wind.  The vine types are more productive because they a indeterminate meaning they produce flowers and fruit over an extended period.

Tall Telephone peas are a climber reaching 4-5'  and are an heirloom dating back to 1881.

Peas as a Soil Builder

Peas and other legumes belong to the plant family known as the Fabaceae, which is also commonly called the bean family or the pulse family. In fact, commercial production of peas is commonly placed within the category of pulse production, and like  fellow legumes, peas are often referred to as "pulses."

Peas are the garden workhorse.  They produce fruit and improve the soil.  They belong to a unique group of plant called nitrogen fixing crops.  This includes all legumes.  They have a symbiotic relationship with a bacteria that causes them to convert nitrogen gas into a usable form of nitrogen in the soil.  Some gardeners inoculate the soil with the live rhizobial bacteria to further facilitate this process. 

Another benefit is that once picked the pea plants break down quickly and can be worked into the soil.  In order for your soil to benefit from the nitrogen fixing ability of peas always leave the roots to decompose in the soil.  Clip the tops off and put them in the compost pile if you need the space to plant summer crops or incorporate the plant into the soil to decompose.  

I finally broke down puchased pea fences.  They are great.

Planting Guide

As soon as the soil temperature warms to 40 degrees you can plant peas.  That can be in late March or early April.  I recomend waiting until the soil is a little warmer around 55-60 because they germinate faster.  Those planted too early will germinate but are slow. 

You can make additional plantings through early May.

Plant the seed 3 times the size of the seed and space them 2 inches apart.  I plant a row down both sides of the trellis. Trellises don't have to be vertical.  I have used the small round tomatoes changes which are too flimsy for tomatoes but perfect for peas. 

Peas do not need fertilizer if you properly prepare you beds each season.  That means that each spring and fall you add compost and a dry organic fertilizer.  If your beds are new you will need to work this into the soil but established healthy beds only need this applied to the surface. Preparing your beds in the fall means all you need to do is plant in the spring.  

Determining When Your Soil Can Be Worked

Harvesting

As soon as the pod begin to swell , it is time to harvest.   Check daily.  Peas left too long on the vine turn starchy and the pods become fiberous.  On indeterminant vine types, frequent picking encourages more production.  

Pea Tendrils

The top 6 inches of the pea plant including the pea tendril can be cut and used in salads and stir fry's.  They are sold in bunches at farmer's markets. Cascadia and Oregon Sugar Snaps are good varieties to use as pea tendrils.  Make a specific planting to use in this manner because once you cut the tendrils they are not going to produce flowers and fruit.

Pea Varieties

Snow or edible pods:  Oregon Sugar Pod II (OP), Avalanche

Shelling:   Canoe (OP), Lincoln (OP), Green Arrow (OP), Maestro, Dakota (OP), Tall Telephone (H) 1881 this one is a climber 4-5'

Snap:  Cascadia, (OP), Sugar Ann (OP),

Dried:  Admiral 

Saving Seeds:

Peas are a good crop to start seed saving.  Any OP or heirloom variety is a a candidate for seed saving.  Just allow the pods to remain on the vine until they are dry and brittle.  Shell the peas and store the seeds in a cool, dry, dark place.  Save seeds only from healthy vigorous plants.