Melting snow revealed growing spinach. Results like this are chancy. Continuous snow cover is credited for this first green crop. Left over spinach seed should be freely planted every fall. We need to tend to this task here. A large spinach patch could be ours if only we had completed this simple task. Every year we resolve to plant fall spinach in abundance. Prepare the ground, plant the seed and harvest the crop before it is time to plant the following year's beans. Fall planted spinach bolts quickly but there is a narrow window for early fresh greens. Young plants are more likely to overwinter. Predicting the time of ground freeze is inexact at best. Several fall plantings of spinach would improve the chances of spring survivors. Will the delight of fresh spinach salad now make us remember to plant spinach this fall? I hope so!
6 comments:
Timing is everything and if Mother Nature doesn't cooperate...then it is time to cross your fingers.
I find it to be amazing that spinach can survive your cold winters. It seems like such a tender plant. But I have to say, it sounds like a lot of work in the fall for the chance of a spring crop... Did you get enough survivors to enjoy a good salad?
And what a delight those tender greens will be. :)
Your spinach looks good, mine was killed all the way back to the ground, but they have sent up a few green leaves. Did you use a hardy variety or protect the plants at all?
Actually there is a nice little patch. With luck it will add spinach to our green salads until it bolts. It's Bloomsdale and got covered with snow before we even considered mulching.
You learn something new every day! I had no idea that you could overwinter spinach in this way, and I'm a zone or two warmer than you. Thanks for the idea.
Post a Comment