Vine Cottage Vegetable growing in Fulbourn (Cambridge) 

Having previously found that spinach grew best early on in the season, in 2010 it was grown as a first crop to be followed by leeks and fennel later in the year.

Two varieties of spinach were grown: “Tetona F1 Hybrid” (Thompson and Morgan) and “Bordeaux” (Suttons).  In previous years I’ve found that spinach crops have suffered a lot from what I call “leaf miner”, so to combat this I tried growing most of the spinach under an Enviromesh cage (along with my carrots).  Of course, as with any good experiment some spinach was sacrificed outside of the cage as a control for comparison.

The following photo (taken on 31 May) shows a 1m row of spinach (at the back) sown on March 15 under the mesh: half and half each of the two different types.  It’s not terribly clear from the photo, but I’m disappointed by the Bordeaux — tall and lanky with small and sparse leaves.  In comparison the Tetona forms a much more compact plant with larger more densely packed leaves — overall I would say several times more productive than the Bordeaux.  Although the Bordeaux has some aesthetic appeal (the purple vein and a more dainty leaf shape) I won’t bother with it again.

It seems the net was also successful in protecting the spinach from whatever it is that devours the leaves.  None of the spinach under the net was affected, but the following photo shows a typical leaf on the spinach that was unprotected.  Whatever it is gets inside the leaf and tunnels between the outside layers.  Without protection, my experience is that a lot of the crop always seems to be lost in this way, and sorting out the good leaves from the manky ones makes the job of washing and cooking significantly less fun.  Using the mesh cage is a pain — taking it on and off makes harvesting rather less fun — but  it definitely does seem to be worthwhile.

In total I grew the equivalent of one 2.5m row of spinach.  This provided a steady supply of leaves on a cut and come again basis through May and June when I dug up the plants to make room for the next crop.  The amount produced was plenty for salad and a small amount of cooking, but in future I will plan to grow more: as soon as you start cooking spinach you find that a vast amount is required (500g for 4 people is a lot of small leaves!)

Recipes we’ve tried and enjoyed

• (A favourite) Ciabatta with Feta, pesto, spinach and cherry tomatoes (can’t remember where — you don’t really need a recipe though )
• Fried spinach balls (River cottage)
• Green risotto with pancetta (River cafe)
• Spinach and Feta tart (Helen says “some magazine”!)