New Zealand Spinach

This is an excellent spinach (substitute) if you live where the climate swings can be rather drastic. It pops out fairly early, and is both heat and cold tolerant. It lasts after first frost and can withstand drought conditions (or having its "feet wet" for prolonged periods of time). It self-seeds if you allow, but doesn't overpopulate. With care, if you have too many plants in the spring you can remove them and transplant or give to a friend. I really have nothing bad to say about this stuff. I wish everything I grew in the garden was this easy to start and care for. It's literally something you plant and forget until you want some. Oh, and it also keeps well, for a fresh green. Simply rinse and put in a ziplock in the fridge, or give it away. Definitely recommend this to others!

I used transplanted seedlings and also directly sowed the seeds and had pretty much the same effect. Plants grow in vine-like stems with large leaves. Simply cut the stem and trim the leaves into your basket. Plants grew well all season right up to the first hard frost in the fall. Excellent production. Just make sure you have good loose soil with plenty of nutrients.

Very quick growing long yielding plant. Taste is good but I still slightly prefer traditional spinach varieties. As a hot weather spinach I've not found a better performer. A couple of plants were more then enough.

This is the easiest plant to care for in my vegetable garden. I have harvested from a single plant for 21 months with periodic feedings of homemade organic compost. Perennial in mild winters where <32*F nights are not persistent, survives 110*F summers though a bit of shade in the scorching afternoons is appreciated, and disease and pest resistant. I use the SFG method in raised beds and it sprawls into neighboring squares and over the edge of the bed. So, allow plenty of room and keep it trimmed. Great for cut-and-grow or single leaf harvests. I would plant in a corner square, a separate large pot or a hill like squash, with the soil covered with straw or wood chip mulch to keep the leaves clean. Taste-wise, it tastes like spinach. Nutritionally, it is near identical to regular spinach, but without the sliminess of Malabar "spinach." Same nutritional caution as spinach for some individuals.

I planted this spinach for the first time last year and was AMAZED! Excellent production! It just kept going and going, no matter how much I picked. It has a perfect spinach taste. It doesn't wither as much as regular spinach when cooking. I will never buy another type of spinach! This is perfect.