Spinach Donation Tracker

Quick Links: How & Where to Grow | Temperature | How to Care For | Harvest Signs | Harvesting | Pests | Companions | Varieties | Preservation | Recipes | Michigan Tips | Fun Facts
 

🌱 How & Where to Grow Spinach:

• Direct sow as soon as soil can be worked (March-April).
• Space seeds 2 inches apart, thin to 4-6 inches in rows 12-18 inches apart.
• Succession plant every 2 weeks for continuous harvest!
• Fall planting in August provides sweetest leaves.
• Sunlight: Full sun to partial shade (4-6 hours minimum).
• Soil Type: Well-drained, fertile soil with pH 6.5-7.0.
• Soil Amendment: Rich in nitrogen – add compost or aged manure.

Spinach is the ultimate cool-season speedster – from seed to salad in just 40 days!
 

🌡️ Temperature Guidance:

Optimal 50-60°F. Bolts above 75°F. Frost tolerant to 20°F.

• Germination: Seeds germinate at 35-75°F, optimal 45-65°F.
• Best growth: Cool temperatures 50-70°F.
• Bolting trigger: Temperatures above 75°F + long days.
• Frost tolerance: Mature plants survive down to 20°F.
• Fall spinach is sweetest – frost converts starches to sugars!

Michigan’s cool springs and falls are perfect – summer heat makes spinach bolt instantly!

💧 How to Care for:

• Consistent Moisture: Essential for tender leaves and preventing bolting.
• Watering: 1-1.5 inches weekly – keep soil evenly moist.
• Mulch: 2 inches to keep soil cool and moist.
• Fertilizer: Side-dress with nitrogen after thinning.
• Quick growth: Push growth with adequate water and nutrients.

📏 Harvest Signs:

Baby: 2-3 inches. Mature: 4-6 inches. Harvest before bolting!

• Baby spinach: Harvest at 2-3 inches for salads.
• Mature leaves: 4-6 inches long, dark green.
• Timing: 40-50 days from seed, faster in spring.
• Watch for: Center growth elongating = bolting imminent!
• Don’t wait too long – quality declines rapidly once plants mature.

Harvest promptly – spinach goes from perfect to bolted seemingly overnight!

🧺 Harvesting:

Cut outer leaves or whole plant. Morning harvest best. Keep harvesting!

• Cut-and-come-again: Harvest outer leaves, leave center to regrow.
• Whole plant: Cut at soil level when 4-6 leaves present.
• Morning harvest: Leaves are crisp and sweet.
• Clean harvest: Use sharp knife or scissors for clean cuts.
• Succession harvest: New plantings provide continuous supply.

🪲 Michigan Pests:

Leaf miners, aphids, flea beetles, downy mildew.

• Leaf miners: Tunnels in leaves – remove affected leaves.
• Aphids: Cluster on undersides – blast with water.
• Flea beetles: Tiny holes – use row covers.
• Downy mildew: Yellow patches – choose resistant varieties.
• Slugs: Love tender leaves – use beer traps.

🫱🏽‍🫲🏼 Companions:

Good with peas, beans, brassicas, strawberries. Shade from tall plants.

• Peas and beans: Fix nitrogen for leafy growth.
• Brassicas: Share similar cool-season needs.
• Strawberries: Good ground cover companion.
• Radishes: Quick harvest doesn’t compete.
• Summer shade: Plant under taller crops for extended harvest.

🥬 Varieties:

Spring: ‘Space’, ‘Bloomsdale’. Fall: ‘Winter Bloomsdale’. Slow-bolt: ‘Tyee’.

• ‘Space’: 45 days, smooth leaves, slow to bolt.
• ‘Bloomsdale’: 48 days, savoyed leaves, heirloom.
• ‘Tyee’: 45 days, very slow bolting, disease resistant.
• ‘Winter Bloomsdale’: 47 days, extremely cold hardy.
• ‘Regiment’: 37 days, fast baby spinach.

🫙 Preservation:

Freeze blanched 2 minutes. Fresh 5-7 days. Dehydrate for powder.

• Fresh storage: Unwashed in plastic bag, 5-7 days.
• Freezing: Blanch 2 minutes, squeeze dry, freeze in portions.
• Dehydrating: Makes nutrient-dense powder for smoothies.
• Canning: Only pressure canning – not recommended, loses texture.
• Ice cubes: Blend with water, freeze for smoothies.

🧑🏽‍🍳 Recipes:

Fresh salads, sautéed with garlic, spanakopita, smoothies, creamed spinach.

• Classic spinach salad with warm bacon dressing.
• Simple sautéed spinach with garlic and lemon.
• Greek spanakopita (spinach pie).
• Green smoothies with frozen spinach.
• Creamed spinach – steakhouse style.

✋🏼 Michigan Tips:

• Plant March 15-April 30 for spring crop.
• Skip summer – spinach bolts in Michigan heat.
• Fall planting August 1-September 15 best!
• Use row covers for earliest spring planting.
• Overwinter varieties with heavy mulch in zone 6b.
• Michigan’s variable spring requires bolt-resistant varieties.

🧠 Fun Facts:

• Spinach has only 7 calories per cup but tons of nutrients!
• Popeye increased U.S. spinach consumption by 33% in the 1930s.
• Originally from Persia (Iran), arrived in Europe via Spain.
• The myth about extreme iron content came from a misplaced decimal point!
• Fresh spinach loses 90% of volume when cooked.
• China produces 92% of the world’s spinach.
• Medieval artists used spinach to make green paint.
• Crystal City, Texas has a statue of Popeye for saving the spinach industry!