Spinach Description
Spinach is full of vitamins and antioxidants, like other dark greens, and it's easy to grow in your home vegetable garden. In this article, we'll talk about growing spinach, selecting and serving spinach, and the health benefits of spinach.
Spinach is a very hardy and easy-to-grow green that's packed with
vitamins and antioxidants.
Common Name: Spinach
Scientific Name: Spinacia oleracea
Hardiness: Very hardy (will survive first frost)
In the next section, we'll show you how to grow spinach.
Want even more information about growing spinach? Try these links:
- How to Remove Green and Yellow Vegetable Stains: Oops! If you've had an accident with your spinach, try these stain-removal tips.
- Vegetable Gardens: Grow a full harvest of great vegetables this year.
- Gardening: We answer your questions about all things that come from the garden.
Growing Spinach
Spinach plants are very hardy and can tolerate cold; in fact, spinach thrives in cold weather. Heat and long days make spinach bolt (go to seed) quickly. Spinach grows well in the winter in the South, and in early spring and late summer in the North. Plant spinach about four weeks before the average date of last frost.Spinach tolerates partial shade and requires well-drained soil that's rich in organic matter. Spinach does not like acid soil.
Spinach is the star of baked spinach balls.
Spinach does best when the soil is kept uniformly moist. Try not to splash muddy water on the leaves, which will make the spinach difficult to clean after harvesting. Mulch to retain moisture and avoid getting soil on the leaves.
Harvesting Spinach
The time from planting to harvest is 40 to 45 days. To harvest, either pick the out-side leaves periodically or pull up the entire plant.
Types of Spinach
- Melody Hybrid, harvest at 42 days, is an All America Selection that gives semierect plants with dark green leaves.
- Bloomsdale Long-Standing, harvest at 48 days, produces thick-textured, crinkled, dark green leaves.
- Renegade, harvest at 30 days, matures early and is compact and mildew resistant.
Want even more information about growing spinach? Try these links:
- How to Remove Green and Yellow Vegetable Stains: Oops! If you've had an accident with your spinach, try out these stain-removal tips.
- Vegetable Gardens: Grow a full harvest of great vegetables this year.
- Gardening: We answer your questions about all things that come from the garden.
Selecting Spinach
Spinach comes in two basic varieties: curly-leafed and smooth. Smooth is more popular, because curly-leafed is more difficult to rid of dirt that's buried in its folds. Choose spinach with leaves that are crisp and dark green; avoid limp or yellowing leaves, an indication that the spinach is past its prime. Refrigerate unwashed spinach in a loose plastic bag; it'll keep for three to four days. If you wash it before you store it, the leaves have a tendency to deteriorate rapidly.
Wash spinach two or three times before serving to remove all grit.
Wash spinach leaves carefully and thoroughly, repeating the rinsing process two or three times. Even a speck of grit left behind can ruin an otherwise perfect dish.
Spinach is treasured for its versatility; it's tasty whether you serve it fresh or cooked. Either way, it can be included in dishes without adding hardly any calories. Warm spinach salads are a classic, but they are typically high in saturated fat. For a tasty version low in saturated fat, omit the bacon and egg yolks, and use mushrooms and garbanzo beans instead. To cook spinach, simmer the leaves in a small amount of water until the leaves just begin to wilt, about five minutes. Top with lemon juice, seasoned vinegar, sauted garlic, or a dash of nutmeg, and serve.
Salad doesn't have to leave you with that empty feeling. Use spinach in your next salad, and not only can you brag that you are eating healthy, you won't hear your stomach growling while you boast to your friends.
In the next section, we'll talk abut the health benefits of spinach.
Want even more information about spinach? Try these links:
- Spinach Recipes: Cook with this tasty and good-for-you green.
- How to Remove Green and Yellow Vegetable Stains: Oops! If you've had an accident with your spinach, try out these stain-removal tips.
- Vegetable Gardens: Grow a full harvest of great vegetables this year.
- Gardening: We answer your questions about all things that come from the garden.
Health Benefits of Spinach
When you were a kid, your mom told you spinach was good for you. When is Mom ever wrong? Spinach offers twice as much fiber as other greens. So when you want a salad that's going to fill you up, go for the spinach variety.
Showcase your home-grown spinach
in Wilted Spinach Mandarin.
Health Benefits of Spinach
Like other dark greens, spinach is an excellent source of beta-carotene, a powerful disease-fighting antioxidant that's been shown, among other things, to reduce the risk of developing cataracts. It fights heart disease and cancer as well.
As a dark, leafy green, spinach possesses several important phytochemicals, including lutein, which helps prevent age-related macular degeneration. Spinach also contains lipoic acid, which helps antioxidant vitamins C and E regenerate. Because of its role in energy production, lipoic acid is being investigated for regulating blood sugar levels.
Served raw, spinach is a good source of vitamin C, another powerful antioxidant. Overcook it, however, and you lose most of this important vitamin. Though spinach is rich in calcium, most of it is unavailable, because oxalic acid in spinach binds with calcium, preventing its absorption. The abundant potassium in spinach is available, and it will promote heart health. When you cook spinach, it cooks down tremendously. Because cooking concentrates nutrients and fiber, a serving of cooked spinach gives you even more bang for your buck than a serving of raw.
Nutritional Values of Raw Spinach
Serving Size: 1 cup
Calories 7 Fat 0 g Saturated Fat 0 g Cholesterol 0 mg Carbohydrate 1 g Protein 1 g Dietary Fiber 1 g Sodium 24 mg Vitamin A 2,813 IU Folic Acid 58 micrograms Vitamin C 16 mg Iron 1 mg Manganese <1 mg Potassium 167 mg Carotenoids 5,347 micrograms
Want even more information about spinach? Try these links:
- Spinach Recipes: Cook with this tasty and good-for-you green.
- Nutrition: Find out how spinach fits in with your overall nutrition plans.
- How to Remove Green and Yellow Vegetable Stains: Oops! If you've had an accident with your spinach, try out these stain-removal tips.
- Vegetable Gardens: Grow a full harvest of great vegetables this year.
- Gardening: We answer your questions about all things that come from the garden.