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Winter Spinach

November 3rd, 2015

I’m currently writing an article for Grit magazine about growing spinach. For the article, I’ve been growing a few different varieties and taking photos of them.
winter spinach 1
One of the things I love most about spinach is its winter hardiness. Not only will it withstand the cold nights of late fall and early spring, it’s actually better because of it.
winter spinach 2
Spinach is such a useful crop for those of us that live in the colder climates. They extend the season and allow us to harvest food from our gardens for a much longer season. It can be seeded fairly late in the fall and very early in spring, thus not taking up garden space during the prime growing season.

What are you harvesting from the garden right now?

7 Comments to “Winter Spinach”
  1. Bobbie Akerlund-Kotas on November 3, 2015 at 10:02 am

    We have trouble growing spinach. What type would you recommend for Northern Minnesota?

    Reply to Bobbie Akerlund-Kotas's comment

    • Susy on November 4, 2015 at 7:37 am

      When are you trying to grow it? There are different varieties that work best in the different seasons. In my garden, the heirloom ‘Bloomsdale Longstanding’ and the hybrid ‘Catalina’ both do very well. ‘Tyee’ (fall crop) and ‘Space’ (spring crop) from Johnny’s Selected Seeds are also a great options. Spinach seed does not store well, so it is important to start each season with fresh seed for proper germination. Also give spinach space, close plants will encourage premature bolting.

      Reply to Susy's comment

  2. val on November 3, 2015 at 1:19 pm

    Unfortunately, my spinach seedlings got a slow start and I hope they will make for an early spring harvest instead. My garden is full of Asian greens (komatsuna, yukina savoy, napa cabbage, Chinese kale/broccoli, and something called “vitamin green”). I am still harvesting peppers and Indian holy basil (an incredible sleep aid!) in unseasonably warm weather for the midAtlantic,

    Reply to val's comment

  3. laura on November 3, 2015 at 4:27 pm

    I still have a few tomatoes on the vine and lettuce in the garden. I’ve never grown lettuce so I’m not sure when it is “ready”. My collards seem to be doing well, though still small.
    blessings
    ~*~

    Reply to laura's comment

  4. Nebraska Dave on November 3, 2015 at 5:28 pm

    Susy, the weather here has been unseasonably warm for October and November. Yesterday I finally just decided to just go ahead and take out the tomatoes. I gathered the last of the tomatoes and have a basket full of them. Very strange for this time of the year. I still have potatoes to harvest but they are doing some strange things that I’ve never seen potatoes do before. After the vines dried up they have started to grow again. When I pull out the new growth there are tiny little potatoes on the root but under the dried vines there are wonderful potatoes. What’s up with that?

    Have a great spinach harvest day.

    Reply to Nebraska Dave's comment

  5. S on November 3, 2015 at 5:48 pm

    I had a terrible time getting spinach to germinate this fall. But I have tons of kale so I guess I’m okay on greens :) Will try again in early spring I guess.

    Reply to S's comment

  6. Jennifer Fisk on November 4, 2015 at 8:40 am

    I have two 8ft rows of beautiful spinach that I’m eating. I’m also still picking Rainbow Chard, Broccoli side shoots and of course Kale. I thought the Chard would be done when it got down to 27 but it perked right back up.

    Reply to Jennifer Fisk's comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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