Bloomsdale Spinach

Bloomsdale forms thick, crinkled, dark-green leaves.

Crinkled leaves for a cool-season bed

Bloomsdale forms thick, crinkled, dark-green leaves. It is slower to bolt than other Bloomsdale types, which can give a longer picking window before warm weather triggers a flower stalk. Allow about 90 days to harvest. Spinach is best scheduled for cool weather: plant early in spring or in fall when the bed is no longer hot. A shallow row can supply leaves for salads, eggs, pasta, or a quick cooked side.

Thin for full-sized leaves

Sow seed about ½ inch deep. Space seeds 2 inches apart and rows 18 to 24 inches apart. When seedlings reach about 3 inches tall, thin them to 6 inches apart. These thinnings are edible, so bring them to the kitchen rather than discarding them. Keep the soil consistently moist while young plants establish. Spinach roots are shallow, and a dry bed can stress plants quickly, especially when sun and wind increase evaporation.

Harvest before a flower stalk appears

Pick leaves while plants are still producing leafy growth. You can cut an entire plant at the soil line when outer leaves reach about 6 inches, or remove larger outer leaves and let the center continue growing. The second method spreads the harvest over more meals. Check the bed often as weather warms. Once a flower stalk begins to rise, leaves become less useful for tender greens, so harvest the remaining crop promptly.

Stagger sowings for a longer season

For a longer run of leaves, sow a small second row two or three weeks after the first while cool weather holds. Another planting in late summer can supply a fall harvest. Spinach grows quickly, so sowing everything on one date can leave more mature leaves than a household can use at once. A staggered bed gives you younger leaves later, after the first row is cut. In a mild southern winter, seedlings may survive and resume growth when spring returns. A short row is easier to harvest in small batches than a long planting that matures all at once.