911±¬ÁÏ

Delicious and nutritious, spinach provides plentiful and repeated harvest. It’s a compact and speedy crop to fit in small spaces and containers, and can even be grown in light shade in warm weather. You can enjoy harvests for most of the year if you sow little and often.

A method of harvesting leafy crops so the plants continue to grow and sprout further leaves, providing several pickings over a long period. Snip off just a few outer leaves from each plant, rather than all of them, leaving the inner leaves to grow, for picking in a few weeks. Suitable candidates include lettuces and most types of salad leaves, as well as chard, spinach, mizuna and kale.

cut and come again

Transparent fleece and other floating films, known collectively as crop covers, are laid over or around plants hastening their growth, and protecting against weather and pests. They are usually used without supporting hoops.

fleece

There are many delicious varieties of annual spinach (Spinacia oleracea), for fast-growing, productive, short-term crops, to sow repeatedly. Savoy types have large puckered leaves, while smooth-leaved types have flat, more upright leaves and are generally more robust. 

Some varieties produce particularly large leaves or have attractive red stems. Some are resistant to bolting or downy mildew. For overwintering, take care to choose a hardy variety – check seed packets for sowing times.  
Ten varieties of spinach have an 911±¬ÁÏ Award of Garden Merit (AGM), which shows they performed well in trials – see our list of AGM fruit and veg for recommended varieties of spinach and many other crops. 

You can also choose perpetual spinach, for longer-term harvests for up to a whole year – this is useful if space is limited, as plants crop for many months. It’s a type of spinach/leaf beet or chard and is grown in a similar way to spinach – also see chard for more details.  

Various other crops have spinach in their common names, as they’re used in a similar way, but are often unrelated to annual spinach. Some cope better with summer heat. Examples include:  

• New Zealand spinach (Tetragonia tetragonoides) – a tender plant that grows well in hot weather and full sun 

• Tree spinach (Chenopodium giganteum) – a tall plant with pink young leaves 

• Red mountain spinach or red orach (Atriplex hortensis var. rubra) – has attractive deep red foliage 

• Malabar or Indian spinach (Basella alba) – a succulent-leaved, tender climber that needs very warm temperatures 

For more veg-growing inspiration, visit any of the 911±¬ÁÏ gardens, as they all grow wide range of quick and easy salad crops and much more. 

Before sowing, weed the area thoroughly. Spinach likes fertile, moisture-retentive soil, so dig in a couple of buckets of well-rotted manure or garden compost per square metre/yard. Firm the ground gently.  

Then scatter a general fertiliser over the area at a rate of 150g (5oz) per square metre/yard. Rake this in, while also levelling the ground and removing any large stones.

Spinach needs little maintenance, apart from ongoing protection from slugs and snails and regular watering to prevent drying out.

• Take a few leaves from each plant along the row, making repeat pickings every few weeks until the plants eventually start to flower 

• Wait until spinach plants are well established, after a couple of months, then harvest the whole crop of leaves at once, cutting just above the base. If plants have good roots, they should re-grow at least one more harvest. 

Young spinach leaves are tender and tasty used raw in salads, while larger leaves are best cooked very lightly – briefly steamed, sautéed or simply wilted into a whole range of dishes, including pastas, risottos, soups and more. When using in slow-cooked dishes such as stews and curries, add right near the end to preserve the nutrients. Spinach can also be whizzed into fruit smoothies. 

When cooking spinach, remember that the leaves greatly reduce in volume, so pick generous quantities. 

Spinach is best used fresh, for maximum flavour and nutrients – if left, it will wilt quickly. You can store leaves in a plastic bag in the fridge for a few days, if necessary. Spinach also freezes well, for use in cooking whenever needed. 

Soft, nutritious young spinach leaves are enjoyed by slugs and snails. Some birds also like to eat the seedlings, but a covering of fleece should prevent this.  

In hot, dry weather, spinach is prone to premature flowering (bolting), which puts an end to cropping. So keep plants well watered and choose bolt-resistant varieties, especially in warm weather.

Downy mildew may occur in warm, humid weather – thin out plants to at least 15cm (6in) apart and weed regularly to ensure good air circulation. Then choose a mildew-resistant variety for future sowings.