Vegetable/Salad Vegetable

• Crops in : All year round

Description

A dark green rosette of blistered large leaves produced in abundance and slow to bolt (run to seed) if kept moist. Nutritious vegetable, usually cooked but can be eaten raw as 'baby leaf'.

Sowing Instructions

Rich, fertile, moisture retentive soil with plenty of well-rotted manure or compost incorporated is important to produce an abundance of tasty leaves and to prevent bolting (running to seed). For summer crops, a position shaded from the sun for at least part of the day is preferred. Avoid sowing during the hottest month of July. For outdoor sowings, sow from March to June, earlier sowings under glass or cloches, and mid August and September. Sowings in pots on the windowsill can be done throughout the year. Sow thinly, 13mm deep, in broad drills and in succession to allow for continuous cropping and suppression of weeds. This crop is ideal for intercropping between long standing crops.

Aftercare

Harvest when leaves are still lush and tender, best done in the early morning when still cool.

Nutritional Information

Popeye was right! You can eat no better vegetable than spinach as it is rich in Vitamins A and C, beta-carotene, lutein (which helps protect against eye disease) and dietary fibre.

Kitchen Notes

Serving suggestion - Spinach and pasta bake. Pre-cook pasta shells and place in oven proof dish. Fry chopped onion and garlic in olive oil. Wash and shred spinach. Make a white sauce (milk, butter, plain flour). Whilst sauce is hot add grated cheese, pasta, spinach, onions and garlic. Mix with pasta shells, add further cheese as topping and bake. Delicious with tomato and basil salad.