Overwintered Spianch

Overwintered spinach patch, spring spinach under the cover

The weathermen were predicting frost. Channel 7 was even predicting 30F. I wasn't quite believing it since the ground was so warm. I didn't protect anything. There are only a couple things that might be a problem. The main one is the cosmos I planted the other day. I didn't know if it was hardened off well enough to stand frost. Well we only got to 36F. Not quite frost weather. The next three days are predicted to have temps around freezing. I think my plants can handle it if it comes to pass. I think of May 1st as the date that is safe to plant the frost tender plants. Though the last frost is usually sometime earlier in April. I rarely plant tender plants like tomatoes and basil until mid May though because the iffy May weather can be cool and damp even it is isn't frosting. But with the warm weather that we had earlier Mother Nature seems to be about three weeks ahead of normal. I wonder if a frost will be an issue for the wild plants.

And speaking of three weeks ahead of schedule, I usually pull out my overwintered spinach in the middle of May because they are starting to bolt. Well earlier last week I saw the first signs. I picked this patch two weeks ago. It had grown enough to pick again.

But when I went into the patch I saw leaf miner damage. They are very early this year.

There were lots of leaf miner eggs on the backs of some of the leaves. But only some. There are quite a few leaves and they hardly got them all. So I started ripping out the plants one at a time and harvesting the leaves that were good.

And before we go any farther, I like to show the spinach roots when I pull them up. Spinach plants have a tap root. This is why I never start them indoors. When you start them indoors the tap root doesn't form and the spinach plants are not as strong. Mine handled our spring drought with flying colors. Transplanted ones wouldn't have.

And now on to the rest of the story. I got through half of the patch before I gave out. The day before I had eaten some chipolte mayo on a sandwich. For those that don't know, I had a bout of solanine poisoning last year (one of the more toxic alkaloids in the nightshade family plants - tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, potatoes - and why nightshade itself is so poisonous). I try to eat a little bit every couple of months to see if I can start eating them again. Well the answer is a resounding NO. I might just be sensitive to the poison. I was up all night with massive cramps in my legs and the next day my mind was dead. Dead meaning I have no desire to do anything and have trouble making connections. Solanine and some of its related alkaloids are acetylcholinesterase inhibitors. They prevent them breakdown of acetylcholine in your body, which is a neurotransmitter. It is good in the correct amounts but too much and I get cramps, twitchy muscles, ticks, and the minds doesn't work like it should. I just don't want to do anything. The world becomes an uninteresting place. The wonder of life is gone. I made myself get out to pick the spinach. But I just couldn't make myself stay out and finish. So I did half of it. Maybe today I'll make myself finish. Maybe. No promises.