Growing time and harvest time
Spinach is sown either from March to May or from August to September. Earlier spinach is sown from March to May. Its harvest season lasts from April to June. When sown in August, the harvest takes place from the end of September to November.
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It only takes eight weeks from sowing to harvest. Once the plant has developed large leaves, the spinach is ready to be harvested.
Second harvest in spring
If you have grown one of the many hardy varieties (“Matador”, “Monnopa”, “Winter Giant”), you can overwinter the spinach in the bed. You can harvest it a second time in spring.
For the winter, the spinach is covered with fleece or brushwood in particularly cold places.
Harvest the spinach up to four times
For repeated harvesting, the spinach is harvested from the outside in. You first cut off the outer leaves, just above the ground.
You leave the heart of the plant, then the spinach sprouts again and can be harvested up to four times. After the last harvest, remove the entire plant.
One-time harvest
A one-time harvest is also possible. The entire plant is harvested. You can preserve leaves that you do not use within the next few days.
Harvest tips:
- Harvest spinach late in the afternoon and in the evening,
- if the spinach begins to bloom, it tastes bitter and should no longer be harvested
- Be sure to also harvest the spinach stalks to avoid diseases
Store and preserve spinach
Despite its nitrate content, spinach is very digestible. Fresh spinach only lasts two or three days in the refrigerator. It tastes best freshly prepared, either as steamed leaf spinach or in the pureed version. Young leaves can be prepared as a salad.
Spinach can be preserved longer by freezing it. To do this, the spinach is blanched so that it collapses. After cooling in the water bath, the spinach can be frozen.
Tips & Tricks
After the first harvest, a light fertilization stimulates the spinach to sprout again. You should wait three weeks with the next harvest so that they do not contain too much nitrate.
