If you have ever watched Popeye the sailor man, you must have seen the amazing effect of spinach on Popeye’s muscle power and strength. Harvested as baby greens, they make a beautiful addition to a salad, but they bolt faster than any green-leafed spinach and must be harvested young. Growing Spinach Smooth-Leafed Spinach has smooth, flat leaves that are easier to clean, which makes it the primary choice for processed spinach. If your soil’s fertility is not optimal, granulated organic fertilizer can boost growth but is not a replacement for rich soil. See Growing Spinach for information on how to grow spinach. Spinach does not like to be shaded at all. Hi, thanks for stopping by. Leaves and stems of many of these plants are characterized by low concentrations of calcium oxalate.  |  Spinach Alternatives. If you can protect with row cover, sow in a cold frame or greenhouse, or mulch with straw, you may be able to harvest leaves throughout the winter, depending on your location. It reached Italy via invading Saracens in 827 and diffused more slowly northward, reaching Spain by the 11th century, and the rest of Europe in the Middle Ages. Baby Spinach vs Spinach . That's why we want you to save money and trees by subscribing to GRIT through our automatic renewal savings plan.  |  Smooth Leafed This may work in a warm climate, but in the north where the ground has been solidly frozen for several months, my experience is that spinach will just sit there for several weeks before germinating. To harvest, the whole plant is usually pulled, although you can pick individual leaves and thus prolong your yield by continually pinching back the central flowering stalk and harvesting leaves as they form. Ethnobotanist and former director of the Eastern Native Seed Conservancy, Lawrence Davis-Hollander gardens, cooks and, at a nearby preserve, watches bald eagles and spring wildflowers. Viroflay has relatively smooth to somewhat crinkled leaves that are rounded to slightly pointed and up to 10 inches long. A key mistake is following the directions on the seed packet to sow the seeds close together and then not thinning plants, or waiting until they’ve got too much growth; four leaves and it is time to thin. The plant is naturally rich in vitamins A and C, folate, calcium, and iron, which lead many people to regard it as a superfood and a valuable addition to the human diet. It has deeply crinkled leaves and a low growth habit that makes cleaning leaves a chore, especially in silty soils where grit splashes onto the leaves.  |   ‘Tyee’ (F1 Hybrid, 45 days, resistant to Downey Mildew races 1 and 3) is a semi-savoy variety with vigorous, upright growth, dark green leaves, and great bolt-resistance. Growing Lettuce Very slow to bolt. The first is the aforementioned Prickly, and the other is Viroflay or Monstrueux de Viroflay, or monstrous, referring to its ability to produce large leaves. It is a French heirloom introduced around 1880. Succession sowings can prolong the season a few weeks, but much seems to depend on your location and how warm a spring you have. Register now to get access to ALL current video workshops and prerecorded webinars plus anything new that we add through the end of 2020. Moringa vs Spinach. ‘Bloomsdale’ is a classic, thick-leafed, succulent savoy spinach that handles cold better than most varieties. Savoy Spinach is very productive and handles cold better than most types of spinach. Malabar Spinach (Basella alba) are botanically unrelated to true spinach, but good substitutes where summer heat limits the growth of true spinach. Spinach varieties come in Savoy, Semi-savoy, and Flat-leafed types, with many cultivars of each. Like to read more content, Join the Grit Community Today. Smooth Leafed Sign in with your online account. True spinach (Spinacea oleracia) grows best in the cooler temperatures of spring and fall, although early and late varieties can extend the season into summer and winter.