My Spinach Garden Experiment

The two week update ... it's been 17 days since I planted the spinach and put a row cover over it for protection from the night cold.  So far, I'm pleased with the results.

I started reading my book by Eliot Coleman yesterday - The Winter Harvest Handbook.  Fascinating.  I mean, seriously, I'm really enjoying this book.  

His intro chapters give a history on winter planting - this is nothing new even though it may sound revolutionary to us.  Through the ages, in some form or another, mankind has sown and harvested garden vegetables throughout the winter.  Between 1850 and 1900, there were multitudes of "market gardens" in Paris, France.   

"Hotbeds heated with decomposing horse manure and covered with glass frames allowed the growers to defy the cold and produce fresh salads in January and early cucumbers and melons in May and June."

This horse manure, mixed with straw, came from the city stables and thus helped create a sustainable garden by composting a by-product.

Heck, we can do that.  We got lots of horse manure here.  :-)

Did you know that spinach is one of the top cold-hardy plants? It actually prefers cooler weather.  I didn't know that!

My spinach should be ready to harvest near Day 42 which would be about November 7.  Our days will shorten to less than 10 hours of daylight around November 27-29.  We'll start extending beyond 10 hours about January 13.  During that period, seeds would have difficulty germinating, and already established plants would slow down growth.  They need 10 hours or more of daylight to continue a standard growth pattern.

I'm anxiously checking on my lil green babies every day!