Remember when I mentioned how it went from a wonderful spring directly into summer in only two weeks? Well my spinach certainly does and they do not approve! Turns out, spinach is not a fan of heat and will ‘bolt’ (go to seed) and that’s exactly what my seedlings are doing.
It’s been quite an experience with these things – isn’t everything about gardening?! First, I didn’t water them enough and lost four out of the six seedlings I’d planted. Then, their tender little leaves were attacked by aphids which succeeded in sucking two of the four dry. While dealing with all those issues, the weather swung between hell and an ocean (extreme heat and tons of rain). No wonder the two remaining are procreating before they give up the ghost!!
I am a bit disappointed that I won’t be able to throw a few spinach leaves into my salads this summer. I was really looking forward to the taste of their sweet leaves; still I get to try again in September, or when it gets cool enough. That’s the tricky part for me. Seems my plants, Monnopa spinach, do best in spring and fall; however, I’ve noticed there’s not much of a spring or fall season and these little babies need 45 days to grow. So far, I can only remember experiencing 10 days of either here in Austria. Still, we’ll keep experimenting!