Comments on: Bye Bye Spinach

By: Lucinda

Lucinda — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 13:51:09 +0000

I didn’t watch my spinach and it bolted! Live and learn. What about letting it grow seeds? Wouldn’t you harvest the seeds instead of just pulling it out?

By: martin

martin — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 06:56:07 +0000

can you not boil the old leaves and the stalks to make vegetable soup or stock?

By: Willi

Willi — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:10:42 +0000

Amanda–I did get quite a harvest before the spinach bolted, but I was definitely bummed that it went to seed so quickly. It seemed fine one day and then it was gone the next. I have never actually frozen spinach because it’s Jon’s favorite green so we always end up gobbling it all up fresh.

Kale actually lasts really well in the garden, even in the heat of the summer. So I just harvest it as needed. I’m sure it would freeze fine if you sliced it into ribbons and cooked it first. I love the National Center for Home Food Preservation Website. It’s full of good info, here’s a link to their advice for freezing greens (I’d cook kale like collards, as they both have thicker leaves):
http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/freeze/greens.html

By: Amanda G

Amanda G — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 01:29:41 +0000

Hey Willi! That’s a shame you lost all that spinach :-\ I hope you managed to get plenty of good meals out of it before it bolted. Your post served as a good warning though, and we went right out and harvested all of ours because we were starting to get pointy leaves. After picking off all the leaves, we ended up with three 9-oz bags which we “blanched” real quick in the microwave and then stuck in the freezer. Have you ever preserved spinach, and if so, how do you do it? I also know you’re a big fan of kale, and we’ve got a bunch that’s getting ready to be harvested. Do you know if kale is any good after it’s been frozen?

By: Willi

Willi — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 05:53:00 +0000

Connie–Congrats on your first garden. When your spinach is done, try beets. They are a great beginner crop because you can harvest them at any time and eat the greens.

Marna–Good idea! I should have fed my bolted spinach to my girls. Next time…

Elizabeth–I just took some pics of my garden this morning. I’ll post them soon. I’ve been having a big problem with birds eating everything! So my garden isn’t quite as lush as I had hoped.

Lynne–Glad I could help!

Courtney–It sounds like your spinach may not have gotten enough sun. It needs at least 6 hours of bright, direct sun each day to thrive.

By: courtney

courtney — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:41:20 +0000

my spinach only grew leggy stems and super tiny leaves this year, it’s been 50-65 on average in chicago, and pretty overcast….what happened?

By: Lynne

Lynne — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 02:58:04 +0000

So, that’s what growing in my bed! I sure didn’t recognize the plant as spinach anymore. Thank you!!

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 01:02:16 +0000

I didn’t get a chance to plant spinach this year, but thanks for the tip! It got me thinking, though, as I was looking at your photos…. what does the rest of your garden look like this time of year? I live North of SF and I’m always curious to see how far along veggies are in other parts of the country.

By: Marna

Marna — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 22:35:00 +0000

Yup, mine bolted this week so I pulled it all up and tossed it to the hens. They loved it!

By: connie

connie — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 16:31:57 +0000

Thanks so much for this post! I’m growing spinach for the first time this year (along with pretty much everything…I’m a total n00b to gardening) and I’m definitely going to be keeping my eye on it now!