Bloomsdale Savoy This great tasting heirloom spinach has thick, succulent, dark-green savoyed or crumpled leaves that are very sweet in salads or cooked. Bloomsdale Savoy is best planted in early spring and fall. If Bloomsdale Savoy spinach seeds are fall-planted, it will overwinter and produce much earlier than if it is spring-planted. Very fast growing plants with upright growth that can be mechanically harvested when necessary. This spinach has high resistance to blight and blue mold (BM). We recommend sowing spinach seeds in the third week in August on the coast. Enjoy a fall harvest, but only cut the leaves from the ground level. The following spring, you will get a huge harvest of incredibly early, tasty spinach before there are any pests around to compete with. Matures in 50 days. (Open-pollinated seeds)
New Zealand Spinach Seeds Heirloom Vegetable. This spinach-like plant thrives in hot dry weather. Interestingly, it is a native of Australia and a “non-endemic” wild species in New Zealand. Cultivated in European and North American gardens for about the last 100 years. Our heirloom variety is not significantly different than the wild plant. Small but broad pointed leaves develop on large, spreading plants – tender leafy shoots. Tolerant of salty soils. Due to oxalates in the leaves, we recommend blanching the leaves in hot water for at least a minute followed by a cold water rinsing – discard the cooking water – leaves should not be eaten raw. Tetragonia tetragonioides. Familiar to many gardeners, this is not really a spinach. It provides copious amount of leaves for salads and cooked greens in mid-summer. Once it is established it is vigorous and trouble-free. New Zealand spinach seeds need lots of heat to germinate so start inside or wait until May or June to seed outside. Soak the small, hard seed overnight before planting. The flavour is better if the plants have some shade from the sun. Pick the leaves and young shoots of this trailing plant regularly to lengthen the harvest. New Zealand Spinach is perennial in mild winters. Matures in 55-65 days. (Open-pollinated seeds)
Olympia spinach seeds probably produce the best dark green plain leaf type for year round sowing and harvest. This fast growing spinach holds its leaves up off the ground and is an excellent choice for cooking and salads. Harvest promptly in mid-summer to preempt bolting. This variety was bred in the Pacific Northwest and is tolerant to downy mildew races 1, 2 and 3, 5, 8 and 9, 11, 12, and 14. Depend on Olympia for upright growth and attractive round leaves for spinach salad nearly any time of the year. Try this spinach in containers for baby leaf production in your patio garden. Matures in 45 days. (Hybrid seeds)
Renegade Organic spinach seeds are CERTIFIED ORGANIC! Renegade spinach is a bolt resistant hybrid with smooth, oval, dark green leaves on short stems. It has the same fine taste as Corvair, but grows slower, making it a good all-season option. And Renegade Organic's excellent resistance to downy mildew makes it your best choice for high tunnel production during winter. Bred and produced in Washington State, this variety will stand up to the dampest, coolest conditions, and last well into late spring without bolting. It stood out for us at the local seed trials, and has excellent flavour. Winner of the RHS Award of Garden Merit. These seeds are coated with an inert, organic form of graphite. This helps to minimize clumping in storage and seed sowing machines. The coating is approved by organic certifiers in Canada, the US, EU, and Japan. Matures in 43 days. (Hybrid seeds)
Skookum This West Coast Seeds favourite is back after several of years out of production. Skookum is hands-down the best spinach for indoor baby leaf production. The slow-growing, bolt-resistant leaves are dark green and held very upright. It is suitable for microgreens in just 12 days, but tasty and substantial as baby greens, even grown under artificial lights. Skookum is suitable for summer growing.
Beet Leaf Perpetual - An easy, reliable and milder alternative to spinach, which is very fast and easy to grow, cropping for much of the year.
How to Grow
Sow seed 12 mm (1/2″) deep and 2.5 cm (1″) apart in rows 30-45 cm (12- 18″) apart as soon as the soil can be worked in the spring and every two weeks after that until late spring. Thin to 5-7.5 cm (2-3″) after germination – this is the secret to the best crops. Sow again in mid to late August for fall crops. Top-dress with compost, after seedlings are well established.
