True to its reputation as a healthy vegetable with many virtues, Growing Spinach easily and almost year-round in the garden. At least as many reasons to be tempted by this Culture.
When and How to Sow Spinach?
Reportedly difficult to achieve, spinach is sown from February to June and from September to November, depending on the variety chosen, in humus-enriched, well-drained soil and in full sun for early and spring sowing, in partial shade for those that are transplanted . out during and after summer.
Regular watering and cool temperatures are essential or they will turn yellow or bolt quickly
Seedlings In The Soil
If it is preferable to carry out winter sowing under a tunnel, spring spinach seedlings can be made directly in place. Shake them, fortnightly for example, to benefit from continuous harvesting.
- Sow in rows 30 to 35 cm apart, in shallow rows (1 to 2 cm)
- After emergence, once three or four leaves have developed, keep only one plant every 15-20 cm.
- Keep the soil cool and moist until harvest.
Sow On The Plate
To avoid this tedious thinning, it is also possible to sow honeycomb plate spinach. Place one seed per cell of light soil. Water regularly using a trigger sprayer.
Young plants taken after a few days can be transplanted to the vegetable patch as soon as they have many leaves and good rooting.
What Interview? When To Harvest?
the leaves stand I harvest gradually, depending on consumption and needs, between one and a half and two months after sowing. But it is imperative to water regularly if you want to enjoy it throughout the growing season. Spinach They do need cool, moist soil and cannot tolerate drought or heat, which quickly causes them to bolt, making the leaves much less tasty.
During the summer, spinach benefits from being replaced in the vegetable garden by an ancient and relatively unknown leafy vegetable: the horned square. Vigorous and drought tolerant, the leaves of this plant are eaten in the same way as those of spinach.
Common Diseases And Problems
Le mold is a fairly common spinach disease. Favored by a warm and humid climate, it is characterized by the appearance of yellow spots on the leaves. It is often necessary in this case to cut off the infected leaves or even the plant as a whole if the damage is too great.
Treatment with Bordeaux mixture, traditionally used to control milidou in other cultures, should be avoided here. The problem would only get worse because of the bad chemistry between the copper and the spinach leaves.
In addition, we will avoid spinach spinach in the same place for at least three years.
Some gardeners are also particularly fond of spinach. This is the case with slugs and other snails, which can quickly destroy plants if we are not careful. As well as aphids, who also appreciate the tender leaves of this leafy vegetable.
Finally, to prevent spinach from going to seed, it is important to water them regularly, cover their legs, for example with mulch, and set up some tricks to shade the crop (with overturned crates for example).
History
Originally from Asia, Afghanistan or Iran, spinach was brought back by the Crusaders. It owes its botanical name (Spinacia oleracea) to the thorns that measured the first cultivated spinach.
Used in the Middle Ages as a poultice to soothe digestive and liver pains, spinach really began to be appreciated for its flavor qualities during the Renaissance, particularly thanks to Catherine de Medici’s Italian cooks who helped popularize it.
Assassin Epinard
BIG-killer “Pirate of the North” Spinach, a late variety of spinach harvested from spring to summer, and has the peculiarity of sowing later than the others. Matador spinach is generally sown directly in place in February and March, with a distance of 30-40 cm between rows, in humus-rich and well-drained soil, like the other varieties. Dimple sowing works well with this variety.
Benefits
Very high in fiber, to the point of being nicknamed the “stomach cleaner”, spinach is also rich in antioxidants, provitamin A, vitamins B9, C and K, as well as minerals and trace elements such as magnesium, potassium, iron, copper and calcium . It also has remineralizing and rejuvenating properties and is also recognized for its anti-scurvy properties. Note, however, that due to its oxalic acid content, spinach is not recommended for people with kidney or urinary system disorders.
As for his alleged iron wealth, that is a legend! Or rather a typo… It is said that this supposed high iron content is due to the mistake of an American secretary. The unfortunate woman would have entered a figure 10 times greater than the actual iron content of spinach! A mistake was caught a little late, after Popeye’s popularity had already skyrocketed!