Spinach crop sheet

Sowing

When: March to May or August to September for winter varieties

1. Before sowing your spinach make sure your soil is well cultivated and add in garden compost or a soil fertiliser to the area or pots where you will be growing it. Ensure the growing area or pot has been well watered and is warm enough for seed sowing to take place. You can warm up the soil by covering it with fleece for a few weeks before sowing. 
2. Sow early spinach crops under fleece, in a polytunnel or under cloches to protect them from frosts throughout March to mid-late April (depending on where you live). Sow spinach directly into the soil and unprotected until September, when early frosts could damage your seedlings.
3. When sowing your spinach seeds outdoors, make a drill (channel) in the soil 2.5cm deep. Use a measuring stick to keep it straight if using a trowel or push a bamboo cane horizontally into the soil to the correct depth. If planting your spinach in a pot you can sow them in small drills or scatter them evenly around the pot.
4. Take one pinch of spinach seeds at a time and sprinkle them along the drill evenly until you have a continuous row of seeds. 
5. Cover the seeds and firm the soil above them with the back of a trowel.
6. Water the drill using a watering can with a rose. Label the row and make another one 30cm away and do the same again.

Growing

• Once you have sown your spinach seeds keep an eye out for weeds and remove any that grow around or near you spinach plants as they grow. This will reduce the chance of your little spinach seedlings getting out competed by fast growing weeds.
• When the seedlings are about 4cm tall, thin them out so there is about 7-8cm between each one. Thin out the weakest, diseased or any damaged seedlings first.
• After the first thinning of the seedlings leave the rest to grow on for 2-3 weeks. Then choose the strongest looking seedlings and thin out every other seedling so there is about 15-20cm between each spinach plant. Check your spinach seed packet for the specific distances between plants.
• You can use the healthy thinned out seedlings as microgreens. To do this wash them, cut off their roots and enjoy them in a salad or as a garnish on a soup.  
• Good spacing between plants reduces fungal diseases (mouldy leaves).
• Keep watering spinach in dry weather.
• Protect winter spinach varieties from early autumn frosts in late September to mid-October onwards with fleece or cloches until the following March to April. The timings of when to protect winter spinach will depend on where you live, check your local weather forecasts for frost warnings.
• Common problems to look out for are birds attacking leaves, bolting of your spinach and downy mildew which will affect the leaves and stems.

Harvesting

When: May to October or October to April for winter varieties

• Harvest your spinach leaves continuously as soon as they are big enough.
• If winter crops are protected from frost you should have a year-round supply.
• Remember to wash your spinach leaves before eating or cooking them.

Using

• Spinach is a great leafy crop as it can be eaten fresh or cooked. 
• Want to try spinach cooked, then why not try some of these meal ideas; saag paneer, spinach filo spirals, spinach savoury pancakes, saag aloo, spinach dhal, spinach soup, spanakopita, in a stir-fry, curry, pie, tart, lasagne, stew, pasties, in a pasta dish or pasta bake, frittata, risotto, stuffed with cheese in cannelloni, a super healthy green smoothie, in a couscous meal, a hot or cold salad and spinach pesto (a fun alternative to basil pesto).
• If you want to get very experimental with your cooking and have a huge crop of spinach, you could try to make spinach pasta or spinach gnocchi. They look and taste amazing, plus they are gloriously green. Yum! 
• You could try this delicious Spinach and Roquefort tart recipe from celebrity chef Gregg Wallace.