Sow winter spinach now: fresh greens in March instead of waiting for May
In mild regions you can still sow spinach until mid-October that survives the winter and is the first thing ready to pick in spring. A few numbers are all it takes, no greenhouse needed.
Spinach is seen as a spring crop, but sowing in autumn is often the more reliable route. The plants root deeply before winter, rest in the cold and take off in spring, well before a spring sowing is ready.
Why autumn spinach works better
In spring, spinach bolts quickly as days lengthen and warm up, often before you have picked much. In autumn it is the other way round: cool nights and shorter days suit it. It germinates well at soil temperatures between roughly 5 and 15 °C, but poorly above 20 °C. Those are exactly the conditions you have right now.
The sowing window and the variety
In mild regions you can still sow until mid-October. In harsher areas the window has usually closed already, and a spring sowing from February or March is the better choice. Small plants with two to four leaves survive winter best, while large plants suffer more from frost and wet. Late-sown spinach stays small and only gives a harvest in spring. Choose varieties that are explicitly described as hardy or suited to autumn sowing. Summer varieties are not bred for this.
Sowing by the numbers
Draw rows 20 to 25 cm apart and sow the seeds about 2 to 3 cm deep. Space them roughly 3 cm apart in the row and press the soil down lightly. In spring you thin to 8 to 10 cm, and the thinnings make fine baby spinach. Keep the soil evenly moist until germination, which takes one to two weeks in cool weather.
The right spot in the bed
Spinach belongs to the amaranth family, just like chard and beetroot. Choose a bed where none of these grew this year. A cleared bed that held beans or lettuce is a good fit. The soil should be loose and not waterlogged, since winter wet is more dangerous than cold. A sunny to part-shade spot is enough.
Getting through winter
Spinach tolerates frost down to about minus 10 °C, and in bare frost without snow some cover is worthwhile. A fleece or a thin layer of leaves between the rows helps without smothering the foliage. In winter, pick only single outer leaves, and only when the foliage is not frozen. In spring it grows quickly again, often from March in mild regions and from April elsewhere, and you harvest well before a spring sowing is ready.
Record it in the bed editor
Add the spinach rows to the Rootivo bed editor right away. That way you still know in spring what is growing where, and for your crop rotation you know that chard and beetroot should not go here next year.