Turkana Spinach Seeds (Spinacia oleracea), 400 seeds, Cai Bo Xoi Cool-Season Leafy Green, a Slow-Bolt Spinach for Spring and Fall Full-Sun Beds and Containers, Non-GMO Seeds for Salads, Saute and Soups

Turkana Spinach Seeds grow Spinacia oleracea, true garden spinach in the Turkana type, a cool-season leafy green also known in Vietnamese as cai bo xoi. This is a seed packet for planting, not harvested spinach, a bagged salad, microgreens, or a ready-to-eat green.

Product Details

Turkana is a slow-bolting selection of ordinary spinach, so it is the same familiar kitchen green rather than one of the many unrelated African-spinach or Malabar-spinach plants that are sometimes sold under a spinach name. That makes it a good pick for home cooks and kitchen gardeners who want their own tender spinach leaves for salads, sautes, soups, and smoothies, grown in beds, raised beds, or containers.

The single most important thing with spinach is timing, because it is a true cool-season crop. It grows best in the mild parts of the year and germinates well in cool soil, roughly in the 55 to 65 degree range, while summer heat and lengthening days push it to bolt, meaning it shoots up to flower and the leaves turn bitter. The reliable approach is to sow in early spring for a spring crop and again in late summer or early fall for an autumn crop; a slow-bolt type like this simply buys a little extra time before that happens, and light afternoon shade helps in warm spells.

It is a poor fit for a few expectations. It is not a heat-loving summer green, not a reliable indoor windowsill crop, and it will not stay leafy once it bolts. Gardeners wanting a warm-season leaf should grow something like Malabar spinach or amaranth instead.

For growing, give it full sun in the cool months, or partial shade where it is warmer, in rich, moist, well-drained soil, and keep the moisture steady, since dry spells also trigger early bolting. Sow the seed shallowly, thin the seedlings so plants have room, and pick outer leaves first so the plant keeps producing; baby leaves are ready young, with fuller leaves following a few weeks later.

Sowing is quick and undemanding in cool conditions. Set the seed about half an inch deep in fertile, moist, well-drained soil with a near-neutral pH, spacing seeds an inch or two apart in rows about twelve to eighteen inches apart, then thinning the seedlings to a hand's width so each has room. Spinach germinates best while the soil is still cool, roughly between 45 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit, with seedlings usually up in about six to fourteen days; in warm soil germination actually falls off, which is another reason it belongs to the cooler ends of the year.

It rewards you fast. A cut-and-come-again baby-leaf crop can be ready in only about three to five weeks, while fuller, more robust mature leaves follow at roughly thirty-seven to forty-five days from sowing. Picking the outer leaves first, little and often, keeps the centre growing and stretches the harvest from each plant before the weather eventually turns it.

It helps to know exactly what tips it over the edge. Bolting is triggered when temperatures climb much above 75 degrees, when days stretch past about fourteen hours of light, or when plants are stressed by drought or root disturbance, and once a plant bolts the leaves quickly turn bitter. Direct-sowing rather than transplanting, keeping the soil evenly moist, choosing slow-bolt types like this one, and throwing light afternoon shade over plants in warm spells all buy useful extra time.

A couple of problems are worth heading off. Downy mildew shows as yellow patches on the leaves with a greyish-purple bloom underneath, and it is discouraged by giving plants room for airflow, watering at the base rather than over the leaves, and choosing resistant varieties; leaf miners, which tunnel pale trails inside the leaves, are handled by picking off affected leaves or covering the crop with a fine row cover. Good spacing and clean watering prevent most trouble before it starts.

For a steady kitchen supply, sow little and often, a fresh short row every ten to fourteen days through the cool seasons, rather than all at once. Spinach also grows happily in containers with a bit of depth for the roots and daily attention to moisture, and in many areas hardy spinach sown in late summer will stand through the cold, especially under a cloche, cold frame, or mulch, to give early leaves the following spring.

In the kitchen the two stages suit different jobs. The tender young baby leaves are mild, sweet, and delicate, perfect raw in salads or wilted for a moment at the end of cooking, while the larger mature leaves are sturdier and deeper in flavour, holding up well in soups, braises, curries, and pies. Either way it cooks down a lot, so grow more than you think you need.

Choosing a slow-bolt selection like the Turkana type is a small decision that pays off all season. Ordinary spinach can rush to flower the moment conditions turn against it; a slow-bolting strain simply holds in leaf longer under lengthening days and rising warmth, which widens the sowing window at both ends of spring and autumn and gives a more forgiving crop for anyone who cannot watch the weather every day.

It also fits neatly into a busy plot. Quick and shallow-rooted, spinach slots into gaps between slower vegetables, follows on from early crops, and grows well in the light shade cast by taller plants once the season warms, which can itself delay bolting. A row tucked beside peas or under the skirts of later brassicas makes good use of space while the weather stays kind.

One trick helps at the warm edges of the season. Because spinach germinates poorly in warm soil, some growers chill the seed in a damp paper towel in the refrigerator for a week or so before sowing, or pre-sprout it indoors, to get an even stand when the ground is warmer than ideal. It is a small step that rescues an early-spring or early-autumn sowing when the weather is not quite playing along.

Where you garden shapes the calendar. In cool-summer regions spinach can run almost through the season with only a midsummer pause; in hot-summer areas it is strictly a spring-and-autumn, or even a winter, crop, grown in the gaps when nights are cool. Reading your own climate, rather than a fixed date on the packet, is the real key to a long, unbroken supply of leaves.

Handle it as a cool-season leaf project rather than a fixed harvest, since germination, leaf size, and timing depend on temperature, moisture, and care. Keep unused seed cool, dry, and sealed, and follow the packet directions for the sowing depth, spacing, and timing that suit your climate.

Product Highlights

• Turkana Spinach Seeds grow Spinacia oleracea, true garden spinach in the slow-bolting Turkana type, a cool-season leafy green also known in Vietnamese as cai bo xoi, with tender, mild, dark-green leaves that are good raw or lightly cooked.
• This is the familiar kitchen spinach, not one of the unrelated Malabar or African greens sometimes sold under a spinach name, so it suits home cooks and kitchen gardeners who want their own leaves for salads, sautes, soups, and smoothies.
• It grows well in beds, raised beds, or containers in full sun during the cool months, with a little afternoon shade helping in warmer spells, which makes it a good fit for kitchen gardeners, balconies, and small spaces as well as full beds.
• Timing is everything, because it is a true cool-season crop that germinates in cool soil and bolts in summer heat and long days: sow in early spring and again in late summer or early fall, and keep the moisture steady, since dry spells also trigger bolting.
• Set fair expectations, since leaf size and timing depend on temperature, moisture, and care, and it will not stay leafy once it bolts; pick the outer leaves first so the plant keeps producing, and store any spare seed cool, dry, and sealed between sowings.

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