Getting started

Sarah O’Neil grows a non-stop supply of fresh salad greens

Growing a fresh spring crunch

After a winter of hearty comfort food, the desire for something with crunch becomes more like a craving. As the days lengthen and are noticeably warmer, a bowl of soup no longer offers that same seasonal satisfaction. And instead of turning to the freezer or the larder for the next meal, our eyes gaze out upon the garden.

Spinach loves spring

Spinach is just the thing to restore sluggish winter bodies and it prefers the cooler weather of spring or it will bolt and try to set seed in warmer temperatures. It is easy enough to grow from seed and is also quite happy to grow in a container. Seeds will germinate between one and three weeks, and if you can’t wait that long, garden centres have many seedlings to choose from. They like it in full sun, but really don’t mind a bit of shade, especially as the weather heats up. Spinach needs to be kept well-watered and it will also benefit from a nitrogen rich fertiliser every couple of weeks.

Succession planting

The key to a great spinach crop is to choose the right variety for the time of year and plant new seeds or seedlings every three to four weeks to ensure a continual supply into summer. Each spring I end up with a fabulous crop and it seems like spinach appears in every meal in some way, shape or form. I start out with the Winter Queen variety and it flourishes in the cool of spring, but once the weather warms up, this variety doesn’t do as well and the leaves aren’t as lush as they once were. Out of a desire to keep the spinach coming, I pop in some Perpetual Spinach seedlings from the garden centre, which aren’t true spinach but in the beet family and will continue to give leaves that can be treated the same way and taste just as wonderful.

Protective measures

Slugs and snails like spinach as much as we do, so use your best defences to keep your spinach safe. A heavy frost can also harm tender seedlings, so cloches and frost cloth can come in handy at this time of year.