Lettuce
Leafy vegetables
How to sow and grow spinach
Our spinach has nice big leaves and is slow to flower. That means you can keep harvesting for a long time. It's cold-resistant, but sensitive to heat.
What is spinach?
Spinach is a fast-growing, annual leafy vegetable that grows early in the spring. Ours produces large green leaves that you can keep picking for a long time.
Spinach started out in Persia (Iran) and now grows almost everywhere, except in the tropics. It can't handle warm temperatures but does well in cold.
Spinach started out in Persia (Iran) and now grows almost everywhere, except in the tropics. It can't handle warm temperatures but does well in cold.
Vitamins and minerals in spinach
Spinach is rich in vitamin A, B11 (folic acid) C, and minerals like calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc, and potassium. Spinach also contains a lot of vitamin K, which is good for your blood and bones.
Great for vegans and vegetarians, spinach contains a fair amount of protein too 😀
Great for vegans and vegetarians, spinach contains a fair amount of protein too 😀
More about our spinach seeds
Our spinach develops beautiful large leaves and is slow to bolt, so you can keep picking it for a long time. It tolerates cold well but doesn't like heat.
- Variety: Sunangel RZ
- Plants per square: 9
- Height: 5 to 20 cm
- Sowing time: March to April and mid-August to mid-October
- Sowing depth: 1 cm
- Time to harvest: 6 to 8 weeks
- Germination: 7 to 16 days at 10 to 16°C
- Sunlight: grows in sun or shade
- Packet contents: about 100 seeds, enough for more than 5 squares
We sell individual packets, and the seeds are also included in our Basic seed bundle.
What do you need to grow your own spinach?
Besides the seeds, you'll need:
- one 30 x 30 cm square
- MM-mix or HarvestKit Coco Mix
- a spot with at least 4 hours of sunlight a day
How to sow and grow spinach?
This spinach is included in the free Makkelijke Moestuin app. Use it and you'll get step-by-step guidance from seed to harvest.
Each vegetable goes through a number of stages, which we call levels.
The app tells you exactly what to do at each level and regularly asks you to check whether your plants are ready to move on to the next one.
So you don't need to know how to grow spinach successfully before you start.
But if you'd like to read ahead, here's what the entire process looks like.
Each vegetable goes through a number of stages, which we call levels.
The app tells you exactly what to do at each level and regularly asks you to check whether your plants are ready to move on to the next one.
So you don't need to know how to grow spinach successfully before you start.
But if you'd like to read ahead, here's what the entire process looks like.
Level 1 and 2: Soaking and sowing the seeds
Levels 1 and 2: Soak and sow spinach seeds
To help the seeds germinate, place them in a cup of water and soak them for 24 hours.
The next day, loosen the MM-mix in a square at the front of the raised bed and sow as follows:
make 9 holes in the square, no deeper than 1 cm
place 2 to 3 seeds in each hole
carefully close the holes
Depending on the weather and time of year, you'll see the first green shoots after about 10 days.
Level 3: Spinach seedlings
Level 3: Spinach seedlings
As soon as the first seedlings appear, you'll know things are going well. They probably won't all emerge at once, but most should be up after another week.
Then it's time for the next level.
Level 4: Spinach plants don't need thinning
Level 4: You don't need to thin out spinach
Spinach plants are quite small and don't need to be thinned out.
Sow some seeds on the spots where nothing came up.
There's not much to do in the coming weeks: just give the plants water when the weather is dry. Easy 🙂
Sow some seeds on the spots where nothing came up.
There's not much to do in the coming weeks: just give the plants water when the weather is dry. Easy 🙂
Level 5: Caring for your spinach plants
Level 5: Care for your spinach plants
After a week or 2, your seedlings will become small plants.
Just watch them grow for the next couple weeks.
Just watch them grow for the next couple weeks.
Level 6: Harvesting spinach
Level 6: When and how to harvest spinach
At this stage, about 6 to 8 weeks after sowing, the plants are ready for their first harvest.
You can harvest in two ways.
Option 1:
Cut or pick individual leaves. As long as you leave the centre of the plants intact, they'll keep producing new leaves. You can continue picking for several weeks.
Option 2:
Cut the plants off 2 cm above the ground. They'll regrow, and you can harvest again after about three weeks.
How do you use spinach?
Toss the raw leaves into a salad. Or cook them briefly and add them to your mashed potatoes. Also delicious in green smoothies, soups, stir fry dishes, and sauces.
The last levels
The next levels
During the next level, keep harvesting spinach until it's all gone.
The plants tolerate cold well, so you can leave them in place for a long time in autumn.
In spring, the plants will eventually bolt. The leaves then become much less tasty, so harvest everything as soon as possible.
At the final level, empty the square or your MM-Mini and prepare it for the next vegetable.
So: what's stopping you from growing your own spinach?
You can sow as early as February, and if you have a cold frame or a crop cover (like the MM-Muts) you can harvest extra early in the season.
Plus: with our app and materials, it's pretty much impossible to fail 🙂
Order your spinach seeds here or get started with a complete starter kit:
Plus: with our app and materials, it's pretty much impossible to fail 🙂
Order your spinach seeds here or get started with a complete starter kit:
Enjoy!
