Comments on: Spinach finale http://tinyfarmblog.com/spinach-finale/ Daily photo-journal of organic market gardening: growing local food with two acres and some tools...! Tue, 22 May 2012 22:37:36 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Deer farminghttp://tinyfarmblog.com/spinach-finale/#comment-109462 Deer farming Thu, 07 Jul 2011 07:45:40 +0000 http://tinyfarmblog.com/?p=2784#comment-109462 I grow the veggies that the deer usually eat: peas, beans, spinach, right next to the house .Spinach has a high nutritional value and is extremely rich in antioxidants, especially when fresh, steamed, or quickly boiled I grow the veggies that the deer usually eat: peas, beans, spinach, right next to the house .Spinach has a high nutritional value and is extremely rich in antioxidants, especially when fresh, steamed, or quickly boiled

]]> By: Jameshttp://tinyfarmblog.com/spinach-finale/#comment-88123 James Thu, 03 Dec 2009 03:31:04 +0000 http://tinyfarmblog.com/?p=2784#comment-88123 Beautiful! My spinach is just starting to germinate... Have you ever tried Bordeaux? That's what I'm growing this year. Last year we grew it on the farm I was apprenticing on. People really seemed to dig the red veins. I'm growing it on my farm for the first time now. Beautiful! My spinach is just starting to germinate…
Have you ever tried Bordeaux? That’s what I’m growing this year. Last year we grew it on the farm I was apprenticing on. People really seemed to dig the red veins. I’m growing it on my farm for the first time now.

]]> By: Mike (tfb)http://tinyfarmblog.com/spinach-finale/#comment-87966 Mike (tfb) Tue, 01 Dec 2009 14:55:12 +0000 http://tinyfarmblog.com/?p=2784#comment-87966 <p><strong>Kevin:</strong> We pick spinach at any size, but tend to wait until it's as mature as possible: bigger leaves means more for your harvest effort! I'm not sure what you mean by horrible-tasting. I usually grow Bloomsdale which tends to have an earthy, mineraly taste, which I love, but some people find...too strong?!? Is that what you mean? One man's strong and flavorful, is another's horrible? In warm weather, sometimes it starts to go to seed, but more slowly than bolting overnight, and the leaves get pointy and thinner, less succulent. There, the raw leaf taste seems to change a bit, but it just seems milder, and maybe that's 'cause the leaves aren't as dense. We harvest like that as well... (Long, detailed answers leading to no real conclusion are good, too! :)</p> <p><strong>vrtlaricaana:</strong> Even for a tiny market garden, 18 lbs of spinach is not a lot. It's usually sold in about 1 lb units (400-450g). As RobG mentioned, we have CSA shares and the market. This particular batch actually went to an experimental sustainable-food restaurant at the local university. It isn't much for them, either!</p> <p><strong>Crafty Gardener:</strong> Thanks for the heads-up. I suppose I have a possessive streak, but it doesn't apply to this blog's photos! I run into this sort of thing sometimes and tend not to do anything about it, life's too short! I do remove SPAM here on the blog, that's annoying.</p> <p><strong>EtienneG:</strong> This year, it's been almost all Spargo, a newer, 40-day hybrid. I've mentioned it elsewhere on the blog. For the last 2-3 years, I haven't experimented with spinach, it's just been Spargo for speed, pretty good reliability, and a mild, acceptable-to-all taste, and Bloomsdale, open-pollinated and a little slower, for reliability and usually stronger, substantial taste that some people love, me included.</p> <p>I did go through a bunch of mini trials a while back, with various hybrids: Melody, Space, Tyee, maybe a couple of others. I was mainly looking for slow bolting, for summer production. They weren't very controlled tests, just planting rows of each beside each other a few times. Really, I saw no clear and obvious difference as far as bolting, only in how fast they grew. So I settled on Bloomsdale (which is supposed to be quick to bolt, but hasn't been for me) for specialty taste, and I think it was Space for speed, and later switched to Spargo when it came out.</p> <p>The bigger plan is to get to open-pollinated and seed-save, eventually, and I'd want something in addition to Bloomsdale. So I'll have to get back to checking out spinach.</p> <p>This year, I got a variety called Giant Winter, apparently an Italian heirloom that's extra hardy and good for overwintering, but I didn't get a chance to try it this time around. Next year!</p> Kevin: We pick spinach at any size, but tend to wait until it’s as mature as possible: bigger leaves means more for your harvest effort! I’m not sure what you mean by horrible-tasting. I usually grow Bloomsdale which tends to have an earthy, mineraly taste, which I love, but some people find…too strong?!? Is that what you mean? One man’s strong and flavorful, is another’s horrible? In warm weather, sometimes it starts to go to seed, but more slowly than bolting overnight, and the leaves get pointy and thinner, less succulent. There, the raw leaf taste seems to change a bit, but it just seems milder, and maybe that’s ’cause the leaves aren’t as dense. We harvest like that as well… (Long, detailed answers leading to no real conclusion are good, too! :)

vrtlaricaana: Even for a tiny market garden, 18 lbs of spinach is not a lot. It’s usually sold in about 1 lb units (400-450g). As RobG mentioned, we have CSA shares and the market. This particular batch actually went to an experimental sustainable-food restaurant at the local university. It isn’t much for them, either!

Crafty Gardener: Thanks for the heads-up. I suppose I have a possessive streak, but it doesn’t apply to this blog’s photos! I run into this sort of thing sometimes and tend not to do anything about it, life’s too short! I do remove SPAM here on the blog, that’s annoying.

EtienneG: This year, it’s been almost all Spargo, a newer, 40-day hybrid. I’ve mentioned it elsewhere on the blog. For the last 2-3 years, I haven’t experimented with spinach, it’s just been Spargo for speed, pretty good reliability, and a mild, acceptable-to-all taste, and Bloomsdale, open-pollinated and a little slower, for reliability and usually stronger, substantial taste that some people love, me included.

I did go through a bunch of mini trials a while back, with various hybrids: Melody, Space, Tyee, maybe a couple of others. I was mainly looking for slow bolting, for summer production. They weren’t very controlled tests, just planting rows of each beside each other a few times. Really, I saw no clear and obvious difference as far as bolting, only in how fast they grew. So I settled on Bloomsdale (which is supposed to be quick to bolt, but hasn’t been for me) for specialty taste, and I think it was Space for speed, and later switched to Spargo when it came out.

The bigger plan is to get to open-pollinated and seed-save, eventually, and I’d want something in addition to Bloomsdale. So I’ll have to get back to checking out spinach.

This year, I got a variety called Giant Winter, apparently an Italian heirloom that’s extra hardy and good for overwintering, but I didn’t get a chance to try it this time around. Next year!

]]> By: EtienneGhttp://tinyfarmblog.com/spinach-finale/#comment-87798 EtienneG Sun, 29 Nov 2009 21:25:06 +0000 http://tinyfarmblog.com/?p=2784#comment-87798 Mike, which variety of spinach are you growing in teh spring?  Personally, I never had that much success with spring spinach, as it bolts very fast.  I am going to try Monstrueux de Viroflay next season (the name sounds cool!).  It is apparently pretty fast growing and somewhat resistant to heat, so maybe I can coax a decent harvest out of it next spring. Mike, which variety of spinach are you growing in teh spring?  Personally, I never had that much success with spring spinach, as it bolts very fast.  I am going to try Monstrueux de Viroflay next season (the name sounds cool!).  It is apparently pretty fast growing and somewhat resistant to heat, so maybe I can coax a decent harvest out of it next spring.

]]> By: Kevinhttp://tinyfarmblog.com/spinach-finale/#comment-86865 Kevin Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:41:28 +0000 http://tinyfarmblog.com/?p=2784#comment-86865 Thanks for the info, 2acre.  It was especially useful since I've had some pretty bad-tasting lettuce as well, but thought I was alone in having that happen.  I'm going to harvest it all as 'baby', and if it kills the plant... oh well.  It's not like land is scarce in the winter. Thanks for the info, 2acre.  It was especially useful since I’ve had some pretty bad-tasting lettuce as well, but thought I was alone in having that happen.  I’m going to harvest it all as ‘baby’, and if it kills the plant… oh well.  It’s not like land is scarce in the winter.

]]> By: cathyhttp://tinyfarmblog.com/spinach-finale/#comment-86863 cathy Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:32:08 +0000 http://tinyfarmblog.com/?p=2784#comment-86863 we have found that leaf miners can be a real problem...........what do other spinach/chard and beet growers do about them in their gardens? we have found that leaf miners can be a real problem………..what do other spinach/chard and beet growers do about them in their gardens?

]]> By: Davehttp://tinyfarmblog.com/spinach-finale/#comment-86845 Dave Sat, 21 Nov 2009 15:12:10 +0000 http://tinyfarmblog.com/?p=2784#comment-86845 Your harvest looks too good to resist. I've avoided planting spinach because, although I like the taste, it is relatively high in calcium oxalate (and I've had kidney stones). My experiment in an Edmonton, AB, garden with with Rainbow Swiss chard as an alternative, however, failed miserably. Leaf miners blasted it all summer, the stalks never got very big, and the first nasty cold in early October froze all except a few tiny central leaves into mush. Although it has been milder since then, the ground hasn't really thawed and the chard didn't recover. Then again, it turns out chard is also high in oxalates, so maybe that is for the best. I suppose I could plant spinach and just eat it moderately - although with the abundant  harvest you are showing that would be difficult! Your harvest looks too good to resist. I’ve avoided planting spinach because, although I like the taste, it is relatively high in calcium oxalate (and I’ve had kidney stones). My experiment in an Edmonton, AB, garden with with Rainbow Swiss chard as an alternative, however, failed miserably. Leaf miners blasted it all summer, the stalks never got very big, and the first nasty cold in early October froze all except a few tiny central leaves into mush. Although it has been milder since then, the ground hasn’t really thawed and the chard didn’t recover. Then again, it turns out chard is also high in oxalates, so maybe that is for the best. I suppose I could plant spinach and just eat it moderately – although with the abundant  harvest you are showing that would be difficult!

]]> By: Paul Rhttp://tinyfarmblog.com/spinach-finale/#comment-86718 Paul R Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:48:14 +0000 http://tinyfarmblog.com/?p=2784#comment-86718 That link is odd! That link is odd!

]]> By: Crafty Gardenerhttp://tinyfarmblog.com/spinach-finale/#comment-86717 Crafty Gardener Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:41:31 +0000 http://tinyfarmblog.com/?p=2784#comment-86717 Just to let you know that another site has reposted this entry.  It is happening to you, me and other garden bloggers.  You can check it out here I would suggest you put your name or site name on your photos to prove they are yours. Just to let you know that another site has reposted this entry.  It is happening to you, me and other garden bloggers.  You can check it out here
I would suggest you put your name or site name on your photos to prove they are yours.

]]> By: RobGhttp://tinyfarmblog.com/spinach-finale/#comment-86691 RobG Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:23:21 +0000 http://tinyfarmblog.com/?p=2784#comment-86691 @vrtlaricaana They either break it into CSA shares or sell it at a local farmer's market. I would guess the latter since the season finished up. @vrtlaricaana They either break it into CSA shares or sell it at a local farmer’s market. I would guess the latter since the season finished up.

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