The Next Few Columns will be devoted to green salad crops that can be grown and that thrive during the summer months.
The crop for this week is New Zealand spinach, a crop that is considered an heirloom vegetable. I have friends who have grown this vegetable in their gardens, and they give this crop a thumbs up.
New Zealand spinach is not the “spinach” crop to which most of us are accustomed. When most gardeners hear the word “spinach” an image of the Chenopodiaceae family flashes in our minds. New Zealand spinach is not the usual spinach as it is in the family Aizoaceae.
The more common Chenopodiaceae spinach is a cool season crop, while New Zealand spinach is a warm season crop. The two crops are not related but are eaten fresh or prepared for the table in similar fashion. Spinach is an annual while New Zealand spinach is a perennial.
The scientific name of New Zealand spinach is Tetragonia tetragonioides. The genus Tetragonia have fleshy herbaceous plants with apetalous flowers, flowers that have no petals. The seed is one of the stranger-shaped of all seeds. Seed are woody, irregular, winged, and quadrangular with four sides.
New Zealand spinach is native to and commonly grown in Eastern Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. Its growth habit is prostrate and left to trail on the ground will develop roots that become a thick mat. Because of this trait it is considered an annoyance in many gardens. Its one great redeeming character is that it is a halophyte, a species that thrives in saline soil.
Seed of New Zealand spinach is sowed in the summer garden after the last frost. A few plants will suffice for most households. Before planting soak seed overnight to soften the hard seed coat. Plant ½ inch deep about a foot apart. seedlings germinate and emerge in several weeks. Greens can be eaten at any stage of maturity. Be warned that mature plants will self-seed and can become invasive if uncontrolled.
When prepared for the table, it has a similar texture and flavor of Chenopodiaceae spinach, and it is prepared like spinach.
Trivia: Captain Cook, used New Zealand spinach to fight scurvy on the ship Endeavour. For two centuries it was the only cultivated vegetable originated from Australia and New Zealand (Royal Botanic Garden Sydney).
Ellen Peffley Harp, a retired professor of horticulture at Texas Tech University, writes about gardening for several Texas newspapers.
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