Fenton Friday: Popeye Would Be Proud

Guest Post by Melinda Thompson

During my fall internship at Washington Gardener Magazine, I learned how to grow 'Viroflay' Spinach from seed. As a lover of houseplants, learning to grow edibles was a new experience for me. 

Each week the other interns and I would meet on Friday and stroll over to the community garden to care for our plants. The first week planting the seeds I was nervous about everything: overwatering, cutting the plant in a way that would be detrimental for growth, etc. But with the guidance of our editor, Kathy Jentz, those nerves slowly faded away. At the same time as planting the spinach, we planted “Long Standing” cilantro (Coriandrum sativum), which was unsuccessful. We even tried planting it a second time, but the seeds never germinated. 

After about two weeks of waiting, I saw the tiniest leaves sprout up on the spinach plants. A few more weeks passed and it was time for cutting. I learned that you have to cut the leaves at the bottom of the stem, leaving the tender inner ones to grow up. I was able to get about four bountiful harvests over the fall months. And with a cover cloth, they were still growing through mid-November. 

My favorite thing about spinach is not only can you make a salad with it, but you can cook it in other things. I love adding spinach in to pasta dishes and quiches to get some more extra healthy food into my meals. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this experience and would love to plant more in the future.

About the Author:

Melinda Thompson is a senior journalism major at the University of Maryland, College Park, MD, with a vocal performance minor and a concentration in women’s studies. She is an intern this fall with Washington Gardener.

About Fenton Friday: Every Friday during the growing season, I'll be giving you an update on my community garden plot at the Fenton Street Community Garden just across the street from my house in zone 7 Mid-Atlantic MD/DC border. I'm plot #16. It is a 10 ft x 20 ft space and this is our 8th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.) See past posts about our edible garden by putting "Fenton" into the Search box above.