New Zealand Spinach is no family of spinach, it's a plant of the Azioaceae family with triangle shaped and thick leaves. It doesn't resemble spinach in grow and appearance, but the leaves of this plant are cooked and used just like spinach. New Zealand Spinach is a vining, ground covering plant and it needs a lot of space to grow. The young plants grow very slowly in the beginning, but warm weather really speeds up their growth. This variety has a good tolerance against warm weather and drougth and is a very good substitute for spinach in the summer. The leaves of this plant are cooked and eaten just like spinach. The vines are inedible. Non hardy annual.
Pre soak: 12 - 24 hours
Indoor sowing: march - april
Outdoor sowing: end of april - end of may
Germination: 14 - 21 days
Germination temp.: 14 - 18°C
Sowing depth: 1- 2 cm
Sowing distance in rows: 100 cm
Plant distance: 20 - 40 cm
Plant position: sunny
Days till harvest: 55 - 65 days
The seeds of the New Zealand spinach are inceased with 3-5 seeds in a seed husk. Germination can be difficult. Pre soak the seeds 12 - 24 hours in cold water and another 3 hours in tepid water before sowing.
Sow the seeds indoors in large pots to harvest earlier in the year. Sow in large pots 2 husk with seeds and cover with a layer of moist potting soil of about 1 - 2 cm thick. Plant the seedlings outdoors, from the middle of may, when there's no longer any danger of nightfrosts, on a sunny plot with some free draining soil. Keep the plants about 100 - 120 cm apart because they trail. Keep weed free because the plants can easily be overgrown with weeds. The young seedlings must be protected against cold weather, because even a slight bit of cold can stop their growth.
Sow outdoors when there's no longer any danger of nightfrosts. Sow on a sunny, well manured plot with a lot of space. Sow in rows or broadcast the seeds. Keep the rows about 10 - 20 cm apart. Protect the seedlings against cold. These plants don't get eaten by slugs and snails. Harvest the leaves from the top down, but don't harvest the vines. New Zealand spinach can be blanched and frozen to store.
