Fall-planted spinach in Indiana

I thought I'd post a photo of the spinach I planted last fall, to overwinter and harvest in the spring. I find that spinach (and some lettuces...see following post), does wonderfully this way, even in severe Midwestern winters. Although it grows very slowly if fall weather is warm, it grows very quickly, very early, in the cool days of spring for early harvests in March and April. This beats any spring planting of spinach, although they do fine, too, eventually.

This photo shows the spinach just a day ago, after the snow melted off earlier last week. It's made it through a very cold December, with temps in the single digits, although there was snow cover for most of that time. We did get a couple of small pickings late last fall, and have harvested a few leaves for mixed salads this week.

I'll post more photos early in the spring, to compare fall and spring plantings.

Very nice, HoosierGreen. And great info on the planting timeframe. Thanks!

Here's a photo of some romaine and mixed leaf lettuce that I also planted last September. With early spring harvest, I will thin the planting. Lettuce does get some leaf burn over the winter, but rebounds enthusiastically in the spring.

Gymgirl: In your zone, I'm sure, with fall planting, you will be harvesting spinach and lettuce much earlier than we do!

HoosierGreen,
I missed my whole fall/winter season, cause I relocated. So, I'm moving on to sowing tomato and bell pepper seeds for springtime. I've been toying with the idea of trying to put down some lettuce seeds now, to see if there'd be enough cool to get anything before the heat sets in. Otherwise, my next window for sowing seeds for the fall cole crops will come in mid-July.

Gymgirl: I bet you would get a great harvest if you planted lettuce and spinach (maybe beets, too) ASAP. They sprout and grow so quickly, I think it'd be worth the chance.

HoosierGreen - what Zone are you in? If you're 5a (like me) are you interested in an apprentice? ;)

I need guidance in knowing what to plant when and would love to keep edibles going as much year round as possible.

hostamomma: I would be more than happy to give you any advice you might need. You can reach me by D-mail if you want, or email (thru D-mail). I've gardened for many years, but there are lots of experienced gardeners on this site, so feel free to ask for advice and guidance from all of us.

I live just west of Indianapolis. Supposed to be Zone 5, but more like 5b or even 6 over the last few years.

Thanks, Hoosiergreen!

I've got some large plastic salad bowls with lids. Used em last year to sow lettuce seeds, but planted them too late. This Saturday I'll fill the salad bowls with lettuce -- literally!

Linda

HoosierGreen,
I first grew spinach in 2009. I planted Space hybrid, which produced large plants and lots of leaves that spring. In the fall I took the remainder of the seed packet and planted more for a fall crop. We had a horrible fall and I did not get much of a picking until November, then we got snow the end of November and it stuck around until mid-March. But once the snow started melting, the spinach plants started growing gang busters, I got an even better harvest than I did from the previous spring's plants. And a good thing too, I couldn't find seeds for Space hybrid in 2010 and I bought another variety to plant in the spring. But this variety bolted almost immediately, I tore it out and survived on the overwintered Space. Due to health problems I couldn't get any planted this fall, but I have found Space seed for 2011. I will definitely be planting both spring and fall crops.

Spinach is one tough vegetable, for sure. Glad you got the same great results with fall-planting. With the unpredictable spring weather, I find it easier and one less thing to do during the hectic spring!

Great shots! I planted some fall spinach too, but my DH took down the electric fence around my garden to dig up the sweet potatos and we lost all the spinach, collards, mustard and turnip greens to the darn deer. would love to be picking spinach right now.

kathy_ann: Unless the deer pulled up the spinach and greens, what they left just might sprout new growth. I know one time we had a rouge rabbit that ate the spinach down to nubs, and they still sprouted in the spring and we got a good harvest.

your right, they've been eating it all winter long lol ate my strawberries down to the nubs too. I think I only have about 5 of them left. I'm really beginning to hate the wild life around here. lol