CHAPTER XXXI. 

 SPINACH. 



Common Spinach. Spinacia oleracea and spinosa. 



French, epinard ; German, spinat ; Dutch, spinazie ; 

 Danish, spinat ; Italian, spinaccio ; Spanish, espinaca ; Por- 

 tuguese, espinafre. 



New Zealand Spinach. Tetragonia expansa. 



Spinach is an all-the-year- plant in California, and the 

 house-gardener need never fail to have tender foliage for 

 boiling if he arranges for successive sowings and knows 

 the varieties and species which befit the changing seasons, 

 for he can choose for fall sowing that which is perfectly 

 hardy and thrifty in the California winter, and for spring 

 sowing that which will furnish succulent pluckings even 

 through the heat and drought of the interior summer. But 

 though this is so, it is chiefly as affording winter greens 

 that spinach is grown for the market. The summer fur- 

 nishes so large a variety of table vegetables that it is 

 chiefly in winter that the housewife turns her attention to 

 pot-herbs. 



Culture. The varieties of common spinach (spinacia) 

 dislike heat and drought and enjoy moist, rich soil and 

 moderate temperature. These conditions are afforded by 

 all California gardens in the winter, providing the grower 

 will heed the suggestions for ridge-culture, etc., given in 

 previous chapters, for escaping surplus water and secur- 

 ing suitable growing-temperature in the winter garden. 

 With these provisions it is easy to secure winter spinach 

 by following the suggestions given for the winter growth 

 of lettuce, peas or other hardy vegetables. What has been 

 said of fall sowing of these, applies also to spinach. The 

 plant makes best growth from seed sown in place, and if 



