I was so worried about the spinach not producing earlier in the year. Things were s...l...o...w this spring. Usually my spinach would be bolting and out by the end of May.
I decided the corn could be planted a bit later and I'd wait for the spinach.
I'm glad I did. With two days of rain the spinach grew like gangbusters. Whoohoo! But the corn needed to go in so I had to chop it down.
It is so sad to see it go. But at least I got a decent harvest. It is the lowest harvest I've had here I think, but still it was decent. I even shared a little with my townhouse mates. Not a lot like last year, but something.
I froze most of it but kept some for fresh salads. With these 15 servings I'm up to a total of 24 servings of spinach frozen, and 28 of kale. Sadly when I was cleaning out the freezer (and I'm not done yet) I found yet another packet of frozen greens from last year. I thought I'd found all of those.
I used three of the old spinaches up on Dave's Spinach Pie which I'm now eating for breakfast every morning. I wish I had noticed that bag last month before I was inundated with fresh greens. But looking out in the garden I see I have my work cut out for me eating all the fresh produce. I have to harvest a truckload of bok choy by next week when it needs to come out so I can plant more corn. It too got pushed back a week, but I won't be able to wait any longer than that or my corn might not ripen. And the chard needs to be picked soon. I am so drowning in greens.
After I processed all the spinach, I went back out and prepped the beds and planted that corn. I think tomorrow I'll soak some butternut squash seeds to plant at the ends of the beds. It seems to be having trouble germinating, but I think it will be OK if it gets chitted first.
I am really glad that you were able to get the spinach after all. My son (9 years old) said you must be Popeye to eat that much spinach. :)
ReplyDeleteDave's spinach pie is gorgeous. Is there a recipe you can share?
ReplyDeleteSure.
Deletehttp://www.ourhappyacres.com/2014/03/spinach-pie/
Thank you so much. Don't know how I missed this but it will be appearing in my kitchen asap.
DeleteIt took a few days but we enjoyed the spinach pie tonight. Used individual pastry cases rather than one large shell and it worked well as we could top the 8 pies with jalapenos, salsa, various cheeses - whatever struck our fancy. Thanks again for directing me to the 5 Acres site.
DeleteWow - I wish I was inundated with spinach. I just pulled out my plants that were starting to bolt. I did get a few harvests but nowhere near as much as I would have liked. After the spinach were well underway, I realized that I forgot to add chicken manure when I prepped the spinach area. Hopefully this is the problem as that is something that can be easily fixed for my next go round.
ReplyDeleteThat's one green that I never get enough from plantings. For some reason it just doesn't grow well here.
ReplyDeleteWell, you might not think that that is a good crop of spinach, but I do. I have tried many times to grow it and every time it just bolts. I don't understand why, because I have tried several different varieties, at different times of the year, and I have been very careful with watering. I have given up now, because Jane doesn't like it and it doesn't seem worth persevering when there are lots of other nice veg I can grow much more successfully. That Spinach Pie looks fab, by the way.
ReplyDeleteI started my spinach in soil blocks spring. I think next year I'm just gonna direct sow. It seems like more trouble than its worth. Your bed looks like a full. Amazing what a little rain will do.
ReplyDeleteHi Daphne, just wanted to chime in and thank you so much for your informative & humble little blog. I garden on the coast of Maine and because your season is maybe 2 weeks ahead of ours, your blog has become my go-to source for what's next. I loved the food storage post, very helpful. I always, always come away with helpful tips. And because like you, I'm mostly gardening for 2, with abundance going to the neighbors or the root cellar or freezer, everything seems so pertinent.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting how our complaints about the weather usually seem to be the opposite - cold spring for you and hot one for me, but a couple years ago it was hot for you and cold for me.
ReplyDeleteYour spinach really is gorgeous, it always amazes me what a difference a week can make in the garden.
Hi Daphne - Do you mind sharing how you prepare your spinach for freezing? We always leave the market with more than we can eat, but are timid when it comes to greens and freezers.
ReplyDeleteSure I wrote about it here:
Deletehttp://daphnesdandelions.blogspot.com/2014/05/spinach.html
Starting in the middle of the post.