Spinach is one of the easiest plants to grow and you can save so much money by doing it. Here are some tip on how to grow spinach.
Spinach is one of the 10 Superfoods that should be a regular part of a healthy diet. It is easy to pick up a big bag of organic spinach every week for about $4.
But once the weather starts to warm up, you can pick up a $4 seed packet of organic spinach and grow roughly 150 plants. Two plants grow enough spinach for one person for three months!
We talked about what to grow in your Spring Garden and spinach was on the list. It is such an easy to grow Superfood that you should definitely grow your own this spring and summer. Here is how to grow your own spinach this year.
Seeds
Spinach is best grown from seed sown directly into the soil. You can purchase transplants if it is late in the growing season at the nursery, if needed. There are different varieties of spinach you can try to see what your family likes to eat more. There are ruffled leaf or flat leaf spinach as well as dark green and even purple spinach seeds available.
Seeds of Change Certified Organic Spinach $3.21
How to Grow Spinach
Spinach is typically a cool-season vegetable, but can be grown year-round with a few tricks. Spinach has a short root system which means it can be grown in containers (plant it right next to your herb container garden), raised beds, and in a regular vegetable garden. If you plan on eating the baby spinach leaves, then the plants won't get larger than about 6".
Spinach seeds are small. So when you plant them in the soil you don't need to make a large hole. The rule of thumb is to plant a seed no more than 3 times its diameter. The best trick is to plant spinach seeds about 4" apart on top of the soil. Then take a handful of soil and spread it over the seeds. Once all the seeds are planted, gently water the seeds, be careful not to dump the water on them or they will be washed away.
During the first week, don't let the soil dry out - it should be kept evenly moist. Once the seeds have sprouted, usually after 3-7 days, they need 6-8 hours of sunlight a day.
Harvesting
Spinach is one of those plants that you can harvest when the leaves are young, usually around 10-14 days. As you pluck off stems, more leaves will grow in their place. Never take more than half of the leaves off of one plant at a time.
Sow another round of seeds every 14 days to extend the growing season. If you have planted in a container, pull it inside if it is cold outside. This way you can grow spinach year round long!
Mindi has been blogging since 2008 sharing her best frugal living tips, recipes and more. When she isn't writing, she spends time as an unpaid cook, maid and chauffeur to her 3 children!
I so love gardening and cant wait to get out there and get busy thanks for your inspirational post
come see us at http://shopannies.blogspot.com
Thank you for the tips! I have never grown spinach, but was planning on it this year. I will definitely be using your tips! Thanks for sharing these! 🙂
I will be planting spinach this year. I don't have much of a yard so I have large containers.
We did 2 of our tomato plants in large containers in the front of the house (gets the best sun) for the past several years. We are adding more vegetables to the garden this year so the spinach will also be moved to containers!
I love spinach leaves! I eat them so many different ways. I'm going to share these tips with my dad so he'll include spinach in his garden this year.
Thanks for sharing at Inspire Me Mondays!
Trying spinach for the first time in my garden. I may have started too late for my area, but I can't wait! Thanks for the tips!
These are great tips! I'd love to grow my own lettuce and spinach in my garden this spring and summer. Thanks for linking up with Merry Monday this week 🙂
Here's the REAL tip..spinach germinated at about 40 degrees..so wet (saturate)a paper towell and put seeds in it..fold it up.. and place in a zip lock baggie in the refrigerator for about a week +..then plant the seeds. I don't know what this person is talking about "2 plants is enough for one person for 3 months" because u only get a few leaves on each plant till it grows more and as soon as the heat of summer hits the plants will bolt (start to flower)(just like lettuce) & I'm not sure but it could change the taste of it like it does to lettuce and turn bitter once it bolts...so plant a whole area..so u can get several spinach salads and try to reseeding in succession . And if u can grow a container inside in a sunny window in the summer that will keep ur harvest from bolting too fast.