How to Grow Great Spinach in Your Home Garden

You might be looking to grow great spinach for a little extra green this Spring.

The good news is that spinach can be started super early. It’s a cool season crop so it’s one of the first veggies you can enjoy from your garden. Another great thing about spinach is that it doesn’t take up a lot of room, so you can grow it inside.

I enjoy growing it through the winter months, actually. I start it inside in containers with grow lights in my cool basement and we have baby spinach salads all through the winter. Delicious!

Also, spinach can be grown in the Fall, too! So, really, spinach can be grown all year around if you really need it. I’ll go more into planting specs and growing tips.

Also, in this post, I will:
– Give you all the hacks to grow great spinach wherever you are.
– Explain why garden zones don’t really matter when it comes to growing spinach.
– Share some examples of other cool season veggies that grow great alongside your spinach.

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Which varieties grow best?

There’s several recommended varieties of spinach. As I always say, ask around to your neighbors or garden experts to find out what varieties of spinach they are having success with.

I’m located in Kansas, the center of the USA, so many of the varieties I’m about to recommend will work for your area also.

There are different sizes and textures of spinach. Some varieties with crinkled textured leaves include:
– Long Standing Bloomsdale
– Giant Nobel
– Melody
– Space
– Avon

Some good varieties with smoother type leaves include:
– Tyee
– Space
– Seaside
– Red Kitten
– Gazelle

My advice is to try some of each to see which you like best. The truth of the matter is that spinach grows so quickly, you have the time to grow different crops of spinach.

When to Plant to Grow Great Spinach

The great thing about spinach is that it can be grown all through the year! Most varieties are cool-season varieties. There’s a New Zealand variety of spinach that actually grows better in warmer weather.

You can easily manipulate growing temperatures to grow great spinach. But, let’s talk about growing spinach outdoors in your garden or in containers.

Plant seeds about an inch apart in rows as close as 5-6 inches. You can also scatter the seeds about an inch apart in a wide row or bed planting, such as a raised bed.

To grow great spinach outside, the soil temperature needs to be 35 degrees F in order for the seed to germinate. Once it germinates, the plants will grow for about 40 days until it’s ready for harvest.

Care of Spinach

Here’s some tips for caring for spinach plants. The growing area needs to be a well-drained location. Be careful not to water too much, only as needed. Usually, most areas will receive plenty of rain for growing spinach in the spring, so no extra water is needed.

Also, some extra fertilizer might be needed. Look at the color of the spinach. If the leaves are not dark green or turning yellow, provide a Nitrogen fertilizer as needed.

Common Problems with Growing Spinach

There’s not very many problems facing spinach. One that I will mention that I’ve experienced is cabbage worms if the spinach is planted near cole crops. Other cool season crops generally planted with spinach includes:

– Lettuce
– Broccoli
– Cabbage
– Cauliflower
– Raddishes
– Beets
– Kale

But the main problem is producing way too much spinach. Is that even a problem? A solution is to preserve it in some way or share it with others. You want to make sure that keep your spinach plants cut back during peak season so the plants don’t bolt.

Harvesting Spinach

As soon as the leaves are big enough to eat, you can start clipping them. Basically, it’s all about what you like. As soon as the leaves are formed and small, called baby spinach, is really delicious and popular.

I use either a sharp knife or kitchen scissors and clip individual leaves. The plants will continue to develop and produce more leaves to grow in size.

You can eat the bigger leaves as well. The main thing is to harvest the spinach before the seed head bolts. After that point, the spinach will become bitter and yucky.

I have another post all about preserving spinach. You can find it down below in the related posts.

Spinach Nutrition

Spinach is so good for you. Not only is it low in calories but it’s very high in Vitamins C, A, K and Folate.

This makes spinach a very great source of nutrients for skin, bones, hair and nails. It also helps manage diabetes, lower blood pressure and prevent cancer.

Now, you might be wondering: Is there any other way to eat it besides a salad?

Favorite Ways to Use Spinach

Hands down, I love eating raw spinach as a salad. Here are some more ways we like to enjoy it:

– Adding it to sandwiches or soups.
– Making a spinach-Artichoke dip.
– Sauteeing it in an olive oil and topped with cheese.
– Including spinach in smoothies or healthy snacks.
– Adding it into pasta dishes, such as lasagna.
– Turning spinach into a pasta or bread.

These are just a few ideas and I promise I will be adding recipes to these yummy treats soon. Keep checking back for recipes.

Grow Great Spinach

As you can see, it’s not hard to grow great spinach and enjoy it! Like I mentioned, I enjoy growing it in containers but it’s also very cold hearty so you could grow it outdoors all year around if your garden zones will allow.

Start growing great spinach now for better health and salads! If you love spinach, tell me in the comments.

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