Growing, Eating and Preserving
Did you know that you can plant spinach outside while there is still snow on the ground?
In my world (central Alberta), that generally means mid April. In fact, the best time to plant spinach outside was yesterday; the next best time is tomorrow. Spinach THRIVES in Edmonton’s cool spring. 1st Spring, 2nd Spring, False Spring, Spring around the corner …. You name it, in the spring, spinach is your best friend. But when the weather gets hot, it’s done. It’ll bolt (go to seed) in a heartbeat.
Did you know that 100% of the vitamin C in “fresh” spinach is gone within 4 days of harvest? I can pretty much guarantee that the spinach we buy from the produce department of our local grocery stores was not harvested within the last 96 hours. And even if it was – are we really going to use it within hours of buying it?
I confess that when I learned that sad fact, it took the appeal out of so-called “fresh” (store-bought) spinach for me. But I love fresh spinach, in fact, I’m a huge advocate of it. I just want to make sure it’s FRESH. Only one way to do that, and that is to grow it myself. So, that is what I do.
WHEN?
The secret to growing great spinach is to remember that it likes cool weather. In central Alberta, if we plant it later in May, when we plant the rest of our garden, it’s just getting going by the time the days and nights are pretty warm. This may be good for you and me, but it’s not so good for spinach. Keep it cold. That means – APRIL planting! As soon as the sun has melted the snow in your predetermined spot and the soil is workable, get out there and plant your seeds. Four to six weeks BEFORE the last frost expected, typically anytime after the beginning of April to EARLY May. It’s okay if there is snow still around, and it’s okay if it snows right on top of your seeded area, even on top of your newly sprouted spinach plants. Spinach laughs at spring snows.
When you’re feeling sorry for yourself because the days are still cooler than you’d like, remind yourself THIS IS GOOD SPINACH WEATHER. Get OUT THERE and plant some!
WHERE?
Choose and area that receives lots of bright sunlight – 6-8 hours a day. Partial afternoon shade is alright.
in WHAT?
Spinach loves a rich, well-draining soil – with plenty of regular compost enhancement. Raised beds are perfect.
The last thing your spinach seeds want is to sit in a soggy spring puddle of melted snow.
If you’re in a small space with little or no soil, no worries. Even a small balcony or patio space will help. Good size containers at least 12-18 inches across and at least 6-8 inches deep can easily hold 4 or 5 spinach plants. Galvanized pails, plastic pots, terracotta planters or fabric bags will all be comfortable homes as long as their drainage is good.
HOW?
Direct sow. If you’re in the country and have a big garden, go ahead and plant in rows 10 inches apart. I am in the city, and my growing space is considerably less; typically, my rows are 6 inches apart. For spinach, however, I usually just broadcast the seed in my growing area and let them grow up in a loose spinach forest. Cover with no more than ½ inch of soil.
Keep your seeds well-watered until they germinate, which usually takes less than a week, but can take a little longer in cooler temperatures or if you’re growing certain spinach varieties. Once your seedlings develop their first true leaves, you can start thinking about thinning your plants out so each plant is spaced about 6” from its neighbour.
Spinach enjoys regular and consistent watering and will sulk if it gets too dry. Water when the top inch is dry to the touch. Best to water at the bases and keep the leaves as dry as possible. Mulching with a few inches of organic mulch can slow evaporation and reduce the need to water. *I use chopped straw, but you can also use chopped leaves. Don’t use them both at the same time – best to do one or the other.
Since I don’t grow spinach once the weather starts to get hot, it’s a relatively short season. I don’t feel the need to fertilize as I top up my growing areas with compost every spring, and the breakdown of the mulch keeps the area well nourished. Keep your spinach patch well weeded – but again, if you’re mulching, that keeps the weeds at bay. Mulch will also help prevent issues like mildew because it keeps the moisture off the leaves.
Once the spinach is ready to start thinning, make sure you’re harvesting regularly. There is no reason you cannot have fresh spinach on the table every other day until the weather gets too warm and it begins to bolt. By continuing to harvest, you’ll be paying attention to your plants, continuously checking for weeds, pests or drought. General garden care is all they need. dryness. Once they begin to bolt, read the writing on the wall and let them go. You can now plant that same area with lettuce or flowers, or even some nice herbs like basil that will appreciate the summer heat.
WHY eat spinach? And why plant it in your garden?
Why should you want to plant spinach? Because it’s good for you, that’s why.
And because spinach is the segway between winter and spring. It’s the first garden vegetable you’ll be harvesting. By the time they start to complain about the warm weather, you’ve got lettuce growing and amaranth and other leafy greens fully present and doing beautifully.
Spinach is a nutrient-dense leafy green that boosts eye health, lowers blood pressure, supports heart health and aids digestion. Packed with vitamins A, C, K, folate, fibre and iron. It helps protect your immune system, reduces inflammation and strengthens bones.
As a rich source of vitamin C, spinach is wonderful served fresh in a salad. But lightly cooking (which harms the vitamin C of course), increases the availability of other nutrients like iron, calcium and vitamin A. So use it a lot, in many different ways. Pairing it with healthy fats like olive oil or avocado oil improves the absorption of nutrients.
To harvest:
I begin harvesting by gently pulling baby plants that are too close together. When they get a little bigger (about 3 or 4 weeks old), I start pinching off some of the larger leaves. By the time the plants are fully mature (6 to 8 weeks) they’ll begin to form a rosette shape in the center of the plant. You can continue to pinch off the bigger leaves, including a center stalk that might sprout up (its starting to bolt). Then you can pull the whole plant out.
To use:
Fruits and vegetables begin to deteriorate within the first hour of harvest – in every way, including nutrition. Nutrient content rapidly declines right after picking, so snip off as much as you plan to use. Store anything you don’t eat in the fridge, but eat it as soon as possible. Make sure you’ve shaken all moisture from rinsing it off, and pat dry. Wrap in a paper towel and place in an air tight container.
To preserve:
Freezing:
If you need to pick more than you can use, you can always freeze it. Before freezing, blanch or steam for two minutes in or over a pot of boiling water. Strain immediately and plunge the hot spinach into ice water to stop the cooking. Once cool, strain again, and squeeze as much moisture out as you can. You can press the brightly coloured steamed spinach into silicone muffin pans (holds about 1 cup) or silicone ice cube trays that hold ¼ cup. Lay on the level in your freezer for at least 4 hours. Once they have frozen, you can remove them from the trays and pop them into labelled plastic bags or containers. This makes the spinach easily accessible to throw into soups, or to lightly chop and throw into stir-fried vegetables, scrambled eggs or omelettes. Freezing is my preferred way to preserve whatever excess spinach I might have.
Canned Spinach: WHY?
Of all the ways to preserve spinach, this would be the least healthy. Yes its convenient, but “how can it possibly taste good?” says the person who admittedly has no recollection of ever having tasted it. My dad used to buy canned spinach when I was a young child. Must have been some fond childhood memory of his. I remember him opening the can and eating it straight outta the can with a fork. Only once was it sufficiently compelling to me that I asked for a taste. Though I cannot remember what it tasted like, I do recall being profoundly disappointed, and I recall that I didn’t ask for another. Ever. When I was a child, there was no ‘fresh’ spinach on the grocery store shelves, and no frozen spinach either. But there was canned. The only other way was to grow it yourself, but I didn’t grow up in a gardening family, and I didn’t even know one could grow food.
A popular cartoon when I was very young was Popeye the Sailor Man, featuring a pipe-smoking, spinach-eating, unusually physically strong sailor man who always had to fight bad guys. When he was getting beaten, all he had to do was eat a can of spinach, and instantly he was strong as an ox, and no one could beat him. As an adult, I wrongly assumed that he was created as a marketing gimmick to get kids to eat their canned spinach, but I’ve since learned that the spinach came later, as some kind of explanation for his strength. His famous quote: “I’m strong to the “finich”, ’cause I eats me spinach.” Whether it was the original intention or not, the consumption of spinach is reported to have increased by a third after Popeye started eating canned spinach on TV in the 60’s. It certainly was enticing to me as a child, and had fresh or frozen spinach been available to the average household I might have learned to like it. As it was, I was in my twenties the first time I tasted fresh spinach. In a salad. In a restaurant. I was immediately converted, and it became a favourite dish in our house for many years.
For the record, canned spinach is NOT good for you, neither commercially canned nor home canned. At 70 minutes per pint, 90 minutes per quart under 11 pounds pressure, there is not enough nutrition left in the jar (or can) to justify the salt.
Freeze Drying:
Once spinach-season is over, my preferred way to serve spinach to my family is freeze dried. The brand I used to buy was Thrive Life, which was the most nutritious way of eating spinach that didn’t come straight out of one’s own organic garden. The company stopped selling to individual homes in 2025, choosing instead to sell exclusively to big businesses. Huge loss to the public.
Freeze dried spinach, if processed correctly and immediately after harvest, is the most nutritious, delicious and convenient way to eat spinach all year long. Second only to FRESH out of your backyard garden – of course.
Any which way you serve it, spinach is a great addition to your garden in the coolness of early spring – aka NOW!
It has earned an honoured place in my garden.
I’d love to hear your thoughts, and any tips you might have for growing spinach.
Now go plant some.
Warmly,
Cindy
