Spinach and relatives - The Manual of Seed Saving - page 202

growth; so, kids that don't like spinach should not be swayed by any parent or educator touting its
health benefits.
WHAT YOU'LL NEED
• 25 to 30 plants
• trellis
• gloves for sharp-seeded varieties
POLLINATION NOTES Spinach is a wind-pollinated outcrosser. It is also dioecious, meaning that each
plant is either male or female; because both sexes are necessary for fertilization and seed is harvested
only from female plants, it is especially important to have enough plants. Male plants can be recog-
nized by the fact that they blossom just before female plants do; their conspicuous stamens distribute
pollen over the course of two to three weeks. Female plants bloom inconspicuously, with small
yellow-green flowers in the leaf axils. The occasional plant may have perfect flowers; the latest breeds
all do, which allows for a more regular harvest. Different varieties can be isolated by time (see next
paragraph), space (at least 650 ft. [200 m] from the next flowering variety), or mechanically, with row
covers.
Spinach seeds
GROWING FOR SEED Spinach is an annual. Plant spinach in late summer or early spring. In zones 6
and above, late summer plantings will overwinter outdoors and bloom in midspring, for a seed harvest
in late spring. Spinach sown in midspring will blossom in early summer and produce seed in midsum-
mer. With a delayed second sowing in the spring, two varieties can be grown for seed in one season.
Some varieties are not quite hardy enough for zone 6 and can be grown only in late summer in zones 7
and above.
Spinach is a long-day plant, the critical day length being between 10 and 14 hours. As the days grow
longer, spinach is increasingly likely to bolt. Different varieties are more or less bolt resistant. Male
plants are less useful to vegetable growers, as they bolt earlier than female plants and therefore pro-
duce fewer spinach leaves for harvest. Keep the harvesting of leaves from plants selected for seed pro-
duction to a minimum.
HARVEST Remove male plants, which die before the seeds of female plants are ripe. Wait until all
seeds are ripe before beginning with the harvest. Cut seedheads, briefly allow them to dry completely,
then thresh and clean with a sieve. Wet fruits are tough and do not thresh well. Most varieties from re-
cent breeding are derived from var. inermis and have round seeds. Many older breeds are of var. oler-