How to Grow Spinach

How to grow
spinach

Fast, hardy and packed with iron β€” spinach is the cool-season green that gives you leaves in weeks. Here's how.

Fresh green spinach leaves growing thickly in a garden bed

Cool weather, quick greens

Sow cool

Spring & fall

Spinach loves cool weather and bolts fast in heat. Sow early spring and again in fall for the best crops.

Fast & shallow

Direct-sow

Sow shallow, keep moist, and you're picking baby leaves in as little as 4–5 weeks.

Beat the bolt

Shade in warmth

As it warms, give afternoon shade and pick often β€” heat and long days make it bolt and turn bitter.

Keep cutting

Cut-and-come-again

Take outer leaves and leave the center, and sow a little every couple of weeks for a steady supply.

Extend the season: spinach is tough β€” a fall sowing under a light cover can give you fresh greens deep into cold weather when little else grows.

The blueprint we started with

For greens plus the whole backyard food plan, The most complete beginner's manual we've found is The Self-Sufficient Backyard β€” Ron & Johanna Melchiore's 40 years off-grid distilled into food, water, power and 75+ DIY projects. Our honest take:

Read our full honest review β†’

Free Planner Β· No Purchase Needed

The Self-Sufficiency Starter Planner

Garden beds, rainwater sizing, pantry days-of-supply and the weekly rhythm β€” free spreadsheet, straight to your inbox.

Plus 2–3 short homestead tips. Unsubscribe anytime.