All about Growing Spinach

Enlarge Image Image Gallery From savoyed to smooth-leaved, spinach varieties vary greatly in texture and shade. Color ranges from dark to light green. KEITH WARD

Types to Try

Spinach varieties vary in the size, shape and texture of the leaves.

Savoyed and semi-savoyed types have dark green leaves — that are puckered or crinkled — and become especially crisp in cold weather. Many of the best varieties for growing through winter have savoyed leaves.

Smooth-leafed spinach is often a lighter shade of green compared to savoyed spinach, but the leaves are easier to wash and the plants tend to grow upright. Fast and easy to grow, smooth-leafed spinach can be gathered as baby greens, or you can let the plants grow to mature size.

When to Plant

In late winter, beginning six weeks before your average last spring frost date, start seeds indoors or beneath a protective frame outdoors. Make two additional spring sowings at three-week intervals.

In summer, skip spinach and try the warm-weather alternatives.

In fall, six to seven weeks before your first fall frost date, sow your main crop for fall harvest.

About four weeks before your first fall frost date, sow winter spinach in a place where the seedlings can be covered in frigid weather with glass, plastic or a thick row cover. This planting will mature in early spring.

How to Plant

Prepare the planting bed by loosening the soil at least 10 inches deep. Thoroughly mix in compost along with alfalfa meal, soybean meal or another high-nitrogen organic fertilizer (follow label directions). Sow seeds a half-inch deep and 2 inches apart, in rows spaced at least 8 inches apart. As the plants grow, gradually thin them so the leaves of neighboring plants barely overlap.

Harvesting and Storage

Beginning about six weeks after planting, pinch off individual leaves as you need them in the kitchen, leaving the central rosette intact.

In spring, long, warm days cause spinach to “bolt” (flower and produce seeds). Unless you plan to save seeds, pull up the plants when you notice them developing a tall central stem. Thoroughly clean, then steam-blanch (which limits their uptake of water and fixes enzymes) and freeze bumper crops.