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Planting spinach. Most widely used of all
the greens despite the many jests about its unpopularity among youngsters.
Spinach, a quick-growing crop, is demanding as to climate and soil conditions.
It is very sensitive to heat and, although fairly hardy to cold and able
to withstand winter conditions in most of the southern half of the country,
it may need winter protection in the colder areas of the southern states.
In most parts of the North it is an early
spring and late fall crop. Only where moderate temperatures prevail is
winter and summer culture possible. It is highly sensitive to soil acidity.
Soil that is markedly acid must be limed until the acidity is only slight.
Spinach profits by use of rich soil with abundant moisture and nitrogenous
fertilizer. A pound of rotted manure per square foot and 3 or 4 pounds
of commercial fertilizer per 100 square feet are suggested.
Be sure to get good, fresh seed. Sow it in
rows 12 to 18 inches apart and thin the plants to a 3- or 4-inch clearance
before they crowd the row. Cover the seeds with no more than a 1/2 inch
of fine soil. Virginia Savoy and Old Dominion are well suited to fall
planting in the East and Southeast but must not be sown in the spring
as they go rapidly to seed. They also are hardy and are resistant to yellows
or blight. Long Standing Bloomsdale, a crumple-leafed variety, is very
popular because it is highly productive and does not shoot to seed so
quickly.
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