How to Grow Spinach

Image taken from qwickstep.com

Spinach is a leafy green that is commonly used in salads. There are several varieties of spinach that range from dark and crinkly/curled leaves, to broad and flat, or even with a touch of red! It is one of the most nutritious vegetables you can grow in your garden.


Timing is Everything: With any vegetable, you want to find out when your first and last frosts of the year will be. Most planting schedules are based off this, as well as your Climate Zone. Click here to find your Climate Zone

http://www.backyardgardener.com/zone/index.html Spinach is a cool-weather vegetable so you want to begin sowing in your garden in early spring; 4-6 weeks before your last frost. Successive planting can be done every 3 weeks until about a month before your first frost. if you have mild winters, sowing can be done in late summer, early fall. If you live in very warm climates, spinach can be grown all year long! If you are starting seedlings indoors, plant about 6-8 weeks before your last frost, then transplant 4 weeks before.


Location Location Location!: Spinach likes full sun, but can tolerate partial shade. In warmer regions, spinach can be grown under larger veggies like tomatoes or pole beans so they are partially shaded. Make sure you plant in a well drained soil. Spinach seed also requires high levels of nitrogen, so if you are using a fertilizer with your spinach, grab one with lots of nitrogen! (there are usually 3 numbers on your fertilizer bags that look like this 0-0-0, the first number is your nitrogen level)


Depth and Spacing: Seeds should be planted about 1/2 inch deep and about 1 inch apart. If you are planting in rows, put about 12 inches between each row. Begin thinning your seedlings when they are about 1-2 inches tall. Check your seeds for thinning instructions; depending on variety, plants can be anywhere from 4-12 inches apart. Don't just throw your seedlings out! Use them in a salad! Here's a quick video from ehowgarden on YouTube.com with helpful tips on planting your spinach seeds!


TLC: Keep your spinach moist but not soggy. When watering, try to avoid watering the actual leaves. Using a watering can helps in keeping your soil moist, but your leaves dry!

Friends: Plant your spinach with cabbage, beets, eggplant, chives, garlic, onions, peas, radishes, strawberries and mint.

Foes: Keep your spinach away from potatoes.

Reaping What You Sow: You can either pick the outside leaves as they grow big enough to use, or cut the entire plant 1-3 inches from the base. New leaves will continue to grow. Spinach will be ready for harvest from 40-50 days after planting. It is best to eat your spinach within a couple days after harvesting otherwise they begin to lose their nutrients and taste.

How to Build a Raised Garden Bed

I'm a visual type of learner, so when I researched how to build my garden bed I went straight to Youtube.com. I was able to find many videos that were helpful.

The first one I want to share with you is made by a woman who is called GardenGirlTV. I found her video to be very easy to follow. It's only about 4 minutes long, and seems to be for a more simple structure. She is actually building something to keep animals in, but the process is the same. This is a good video if you are looking for a cheap and simple project, or to just get the basic idea for a garden bed!




This next video is also very helpful. It's from a Lowes home improvement  expert, so it's a more detailed guide to building a garden bed. I found that it is also a more elaborate structure, for those more seasoned gardeners! I still enjoyed it and found it very informative!




If you would like a more step-by-step guide, I found a great one from a website called Associatedcontet.com. It's about building a raised garden bed in 7 easy steps. While there are no pictures, it does give a list of items you will need, as well as easy to follow steps. All of the comments left on the article were positive, and expressed how easy it was to follow.

Click here if you would like to check out the easy step-by-step guide