Spinach

[b54red]

This is the best I have ever seen spinach grow in the fall. I had great germination in the greenhouse and when I transplanted into the garden a few weeks ago the plants just took off. Planted the same day as my lettuce transplants but for some reason growing twice as fast. I have planted 6 different varieties and they have all done fantastic so the conditions for growing spinach must be near perfect right now. This is a real improvement over the usual hit and miss I usually have with spinach.

We are getting to have all the spinach salads we want this year so far. Found a great strawberry flavored balsamic from Wine Country Kitchens that makes a wonderful dressing. I hope everyone else is having good luck with their fall gardens this year.

Merry Christmas to all.

Bill

[peppero]

Hi Bill. I wish I could say that and not be lying. Chickweed and Henbit grow prolifically and I like both so it is not all bad. By the way my Papadew peppers are doing fairly well in the greenhouse. Cheers.

jon

[b54red]

Jon you might want to try UltraSorb for starting spinach seed. Before I used it I never knew if I would get decent germination since I have been using it I get at least 90% germination. It does require fertilizer much earlier than other seed starting mixes and earlier potting up.

I'm not growing any Pappadews this year. I made six gallons of hot sauce from Pappadews this year so I should have plenty for at least the next two years.

Bill

[peppero]

thanks for the tip Bill.

jon

[b54red]

I went out and picked washed and dried 3 gallon bags of fresh spinach two days before Christmas. Boy was I thankful for that commercial 2 1/2 gallon salad spinner I bought myself for Christmas. It cut my drying time by 80% and I'm hoping it will do the same for lettuce that will be ready soon. I like to do my vegetable washing outdoors in a sink my brother in law built into my table that I use for the garden. This time of the year it can get really cold late in the day with wet hands so speeding up the process of cleaning greens of all kinds is a real help. Below is a link to the page I purchased it on they also carry larger salad spinners but I rarely need to wash more than a few gallons of lettuce or spinach at one time.

http://www.webstaurantstore.com/2-5-...ke/599SD6.html

Bill

[shelleybean]

My spinach did great this past spring but terrible this fall. Usually it's the other way around. I have plenty of other greens though for now and spring is coming. I can say that now that we've reached the end of the year, right?