Spinach is a wonderful cool-season vegetable. It can be harvested when the leaves are small and young as baby spinach (right) or when the plants are fully grown (left).
Spinacia oleracea
Spinach is renowned for its health benefits. Calorie for calorie, it provides more nutrients than any other food. Raw, it has a mild sweet taste that is good in salads, especially if the young leaves are used. Its flavor becomes more robust when it is cooked. It grows to 25 cm (10 in) high with arrow-shaped flat leaves.
Spinach is a wonderful cool-season vegetable. It can be harvested when the leaves are small and young as baby spinach (right) or when the plants are fully grown (left).
Spinach is a long-lasting cut-and-come-again vegetable with the hardiness of Swiss chard. It is drought- and heat-tolerant and grows well in warm weather without running to seed.
Spinach requires a rich, fertile, well-drained soil that is high in organic matter so it does not dry out in warm weather, as this will cause it to bolt and run to seed. Traditionally, it is grown as a winter vegetable, although it may need protection from extreme frost in cold areas. There are new varieties that can be grown in summer in mild climates. Sow seeds 1 cm (1/2 in) deep in rows 30 cm (1 ft) apart. As the seeds germinate, thin them to 15 cm (6 in) apart, and use the thinnings as baby spinach.
Problems Like many other leafy vegetables, spinach is bothered mainly by snails and slugs.
Harvesting Baby spinach is picked when young and tender. The plants are fully grown in 8 to 10 weeks, when you can either take the large outer leaves first—use a knife rather than just pulling—or harvest the entire plant.
Spinach leaves are quite delicate, so any you buy may be slightly soft, but make sure they are not too wilted and not shriveled at all. Keep in a sealed plastic bag in the crisper section of the refrigerator for only a day or two, and wash just before using.
Contrary to popular belief, this leafy green is not extra rich in iron. It is rich in vitamins A, K, and health-promoting flavonoids, which has earned it a reputation as a superfood. In animal studies, spinach extracts have discouraged cancer growth and cooled inflammation. It also contains lutein and zeaxanthin, which can help protect eyes from macular degeneration.
Early-harvest baby spinach can be used raw in salads or lightly steamed. Mature spinach can be steamed or gently cooked by itself or added to soups, cream sauces, omelets, pasta dishes, and the classic Greek spanakopita, or spinach pie.
Many other leafy green vegetables share the name spinach, and they are similarly rich in nutrients and protein. However, they are also high in oxalic acid, so don’t eat too much too often.
Amaranthus tricolor
Also known as Greek spinach, Chinese spinach, Indian spinach
This leafy vegetable features in the cuisine of Greece, Southeast Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean. The leaves have a sweet, tangy flavor. Young leaves are used in salads, and mature leaves are best cooked as a leafy vegetable.
Amaranth can be sown all year round in warm climates and after the last frost in cool climates. It grows to over 60 cm (2 ft) high and is remarkably drought-tolerant. The light green leaves with pinkish-red new growth and the stems are edible. Flowers, produced over a long period, look like drooping tassels. Red amaranth (A. cruentus) has ornamental appeal, with reddish-purple leaves, red tassel flowers, and red seeds. While the leaves of grain amaranth (A. hypochondriacus) are edible, its seeds are a staple cereal crop in South America. All forms will self-seed readily, but save some seed just in case they don’t.
Basella alba
Also known as climbing spinach, Malabar spinach, Indian running spinach
Ceylon spinach is grown throughout tropical Asia and is perfect in limited space, climbing to 1.5 m (5 ft) high or trailing as a ground cover. Perennial in the tropics, where it is grown from cuttings or seed, it is an annual in cooler climates, best sown from seed in spring 20 cm (8 in) apart along a climbing frame. It has green twining stems, glossy dark green leaves, and white flowers. The red-stemmed form (B. rubra) is attractive, with its purple-green leaves, pink flowers, and vibrant reddish-purple stems. A cut-and-come-again vegetable, a succulent texture and similar flavor to Swiss chard. Plants are ready for harvesting within two months, with young leaves used raw in salads and mature leaves cooked like spinach. If overcooked or used in soups and stews, it adds a mucilaginous consistency, perfect for thickening.
Corchorus olitorius
Also known as West African sorrel
This fast-growing leafy green is used as a vegetable and an herb in Middle Eastern and African cuisine. It can be eaten fresh in salads when young or cooked as a vegetable as the leaves mature. The plant is also harvested to produce the jute fiber used to make burlap and rope. Sown in spring and summer, it grows in a clump to 1 m (3 ft) high. It is best suited to tropical or subtropical climates, where it self-seeds readily and may become weedy.
Talinum fruticosum syn. Talinum triangulare
Also known as waterleaf
This bushy plant, native to Central and South America, is widely grown in West Africa and Southeast Asia. It reaches 30 cm to 1 m (1–3 ft) high, with bright green leaves and attractive small pink flowers. Its dark green leaves have a crunchy, tangy flavor and are used raw in salads or lightly cooked in stir-fries. Once established, it self-seeds readily, or it can be propagated from cuttings. It grows best in tropical climates, where it is perennial in moist semi-shade. In cold climates it is an annual.
Strong to the finish
Although it is popularly thought that Popeye’s instant muscles came from the high iron content of the spinach that he adores, in fact it was the vegetable’s vitamin A that the cartoon character cited as his reason for choosing this particular pick-me-up before a fight. “Spinach is full of vitamin A and that’s what makes humans strong and healthy,” he advised in 1932 as he popped open his first tin.
