Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Sugar Ann. This sweet, edible pod pea took the All-American Selection prize in 1984 and grows
on a more compact, container-friendly vine of 4 feet or less.
Ta l l Te le phone . Also called Alderman. This prolific vine was named for Alexander Graham Bell
and is great for canning and freezing.
Wa ndo. A versatile pea that will pollinate well in cool weather, and holds up better in hot weather
than most peas. My kids call this the Waldo vine.
Spinach ( Spinacea oleracea )
There are two main types of spinach to try in your homestead garden. The first group of spinach is
savoyed or semi-savoyed, which is the type of spinach with crinkly leaves that are a very dark green.
Smooth-leaved spinach is a lighter green and has smooth leaves instead of the textured leaves.
In southern gardens, you can sow seeds in the fall about five to seven weeks before the first frost
date, and you can begin harvesting as baby greens very quickly. In northern gardens, spinach will
behave well when planted in the spring and not bolt too soon. Either way, plant your seeds 1 2 inch
deep and 8 inches apart in loose, fertile soil. Spinach is one of the cool-season plants that is not in
the Brassica family, so you can plant it where tomatoes grew in the summer or where broccoli and
cabbage were the previous year.
You can begin harvesting delicious leaves from the outside of the plant as baby greens within just a
couple weeks (as soon as plants reach 2 inches tall). Continue harvesting as needed from the outside
of the plant until the spinach begins to bolt, or cut the whole plant when it reaches 6 to 8 inches
tall. Sow new seeds every couple of weeks so you'll have a continuous harvest through the fall
and well into winter in some areas. Unlike lettuce, spinach freezes well so be sure to plant enough
during the prime fall season to last through the summer when spinach won't grow well—or in my
area, at all.
Spinach doesn't have very many pests but leaf miners can be a problem sometimes. If you see pale
tunnels in your leaves, remove infected leaves and cover the plants with a floating row cover to keep
the flies off the spinach. Slugs can be a pest on spinach, too, and if you see the leaves being chewed
from the outside, try setting beer traps to control the overall population.
Bloomsdale. A long-standing spinach with excellent heat resistance, this spinach was first devel-
oped in the late 1800s.
Giant Noble. Huge spinach grows with a loose, open habit and outer leaves can be harvested in
just a couple weeks.
Monstrueux De Viroflay. This spinach develops huge leaves nearly a foot long and is designed to
grow quickly in the fall before winter weather sets in full force.
 
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