Plant · P-280

Spinach

Spinacia oleracea

Spinach is a cool-season leaf crop sown in early autumn for cutting from late autumn through spring, with new leaf ready roughly six weeks after each sowing. It actually prefers alkaline, nitrogen-rich ground, which makes heavy clay soil a better match for it than for most vegetables. Summer is the one condition it cannot handle - heat pushes it to bolt and turn bitter, so the crop is simply skipped rather than fought through the hottest months. The leaf carries meaningful oxalic acid, which cooking reduces, so it is best eaten in ordinary serving sizes rather than by the barrowload.