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Post by Clovis Sangrail on Jan 10, 2024 20:07:07 GMT -5
Have any of you spinach growers ever tried New Zealand spinach in an AG? It's not real spinach, but it looks like it, cooks like it and tastes like it. It is more heat tolerant than real spinach and not as prone to bolt.
I used it outside many years ago in a square-foot garden in the US midwest, where the spring growing season between last frost and 90-plus temps was only about 20 minutes. It does last longer than spinach, but it is not as compact.
Downside is that it grows like a ground cover, so it will probably cascade over the sides.
It's on my list of things to try, because I love me a spinach salad, too.
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Post by LoveSalads on Jan 10, 2024 21:01:58 GMT -5
Have any of you spinach growers ever tried New Zealand spinach in an AG? It's not real spinach, but it looks like it, cooks like it and tastes like it. It is more heat tolerant than real spinach and not as prone to bolt. I used it outside many years ago in a square-foot garden in the US midwest, where the spring growing season between last frost and 90-plus temps was only about 20 minutes. It does last longer than spinach, but it is not as compact. Downside is that it grows like a ground cover, so it will probably cascade over the sides. It's on my list of things to try, because I love me a spinach salad, too. Not yet. I am growing the .59cent spinach bloomsdale long standing from dollar general. I plan on trying it tomorrow stand alone just to check the taste. My idea was to toss that in the garden this year as soon as all the snow melts off in springish time. After seeing mike have great success with his I had to try. Tempting to put it out there now and see if it pops up on it's own when it's ready.
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slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 775
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Post by slw on Jan 10, 2024 21:11:41 GMT -5
I'm so excited!! I'm seeing spinach seeds sprouting after only 24 hours!! YIPPEE! Maybe spending time in the 'fridge was a good idea. That's awesome and super quick Well, the seeds spent a week chillin' in the refrigerator and then 24 hours soaking, but after they went into the paper towel it went pretty fast.
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slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 775
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Post by slw on Jan 10, 2024 21:14:15 GMT -5
Have any of you spinach growers ever tried New Zealand spinach in an AG? It's not real spinach, but it looks like it, cooks like it and tastes like it. It is more heat tolerant than real spinach and not as prone to bolt. No, but last summer I planted Malabar Spinach in my outdoor garden. It's not really spinach either but is extremely heat-resistant and makes a pretty vine. I wasn't impressed with the taste either raw or cooked so I won't bother with that again.
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slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 775
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Post by slw on Jan 12, 2024 17:31:58 GMT -5
Today I moved my spinach sprouts from the paper towel to AG pods in a Bounty. There were 8 sprouts with nice long roots so I'm hoping that at least 6 of them will survive. These are Noble Giant seeds; supposed to get as tall as 20".
I harvested a bunch of chard, tatsoi and bok choy to make a nice stir fry for our dinner. I need to do some clean up/maintenance on all of those gardens to tidy them up a bit.
I'm happy with my broccolini results so far. No sign of any broccolinis yet but the plants are quite sturdy.
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pfunnyjoy
AGA Bounty
Made more grow room in my office!
Posts: 621
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Post by pfunnyjoy on Jan 12, 2024 20:09:39 GMT -5
I have some spinach seeds soaking after spending a week in the refrigerator. I'm pulling out all the stops to get some germinated!!
I'm so excited!! I'm seeing spinach seeds sprouting after only 24 hours!! YIPPEE! Maybe spending time in the 'fridge was a good idea. Oh man! I may have to try spinach at some point!
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pfunnyjoy
AGA Bounty
Made more grow room in my office!
Posts: 621
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Post by pfunnyjoy on Jan 12, 2024 20:10:45 GMT -5
Have any of you spinach growers ever tried New Zealand spinach in an AG? It's not real spinach, but it looks like it, cooks like it and tastes like it. It is more heat tolerant than real spinach and not as prone to bolt. No, but last summer I planted Malabar Spinach in my outdoor garden. It's not really spinach either but is extremely heat-resistant and makes a pretty vine. I wasn't impressed with the taste either raw or cooked so I won't bother with that again.
Good to know. It's been on my radar for awhile, but I've never tried growing it. If the taste isn't all that, I won't bother now.
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pfunnyjoy
AGA Bounty
Made more grow room in my office!
Posts: 621
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Post by pfunnyjoy on Jan 12, 2024 20:28:18 GMT -5
My addict status continues with a third sub-$50 Harvest Elite Slim!
Found it as a new, open box unit on eBay; $48.72 price included shipping, it arrived today. Could not resist at that price! Nothing wrong with it other than a couple tiny scuffs on the stainless steel, which the seller did mention. Pump works, all LEDs work, screen functions seem to work OK.
It came with the old salad pods where the lettuces all have names, yeah! Whether they'll sprout or not, who knows, but I plan to try them as soon as I figure out where to put it. I cleared two tables in the south 40, but the third, largest table is still piled with a bunch of stuff that is yet to be cleared. Hope to work on that soon.
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Post by lynnee on Jan 12, 2024 22:49:26 GMT -5
You are too funny, pfunnyjoy! At those prices, I'd say that your addiction is under control.
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slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 775
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Post by slw on Jan 12, 2024 23:05:33 GMT -5
Good to know. It's been on my radar for awhile, but I've never tried growing it. If the taste isn't all that, I won't bother now. You might give it a try! Some people really like it and it is a very pretty vine.
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Post by Clovis Sangrail on Jan 13, 2024 0:01:12 GMT -5
My addict status continues with a third sub-$50 Harvest Elite Slim! Found it as a new, open box unit on eBay; $48.72 price included shipping, it arrived today. Could not resist at that price! Nothing wrong with it other than a couple tiny scuffs on the stainless steel, which the seller did mention. Pump works, all LEDs work, screen functions seem to work OK. It came with the old salad pods where the lettuces all have names, yeah! Whether they'll sprout or not, who knows, but I plan to try them as soon as I figure out where to put it. I cleared two tables in the south 40, but the third, largest table is still piled with a bunch of stuff that is yet to be cleared. Hope to work on that soon. Good deal. Those are 120 bucks from AG. Woot was selling them through Amazon before Christmas for about 70 bucks plus tax. I bought two then, and they are good little units. They came with that Heirloom Salad pod kit, and I did plant one of those kits. Out of 6, only 2 sprouted. I kind of suspect it's some kind of close-out. Amazon was out of stock for this unit just after Christmas, but now they are back on Amazon for . . . 67.99 plus tax. And it comes with the same Heirloom Salad pod kit. (Of course, I ordered another one. They are great for lettuce.)
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pfunnyjoy
AGA Bounty
Made more grow room in my office!
Posts: 621
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Post by pfunnyjoy on Jan 13, 2024 0:33:13 GMT -5
My addict status continues with a third sub-$50 Harvest Elite Slim! Found it as a new, open box unit on eBay; $48.72 price included shipping, it arrived today. Could not resist at that price! Nothing wrong with it other than a couple tiny scuffs on the stainless steel, which the seller did mention. Pump works, all LEDs work, screen functions seem to work OK. It came with the old salad pods where the lettuces all have names, yeah! Whether they'll sprout or not, who knows, but I plan to try them as soon as I figure out where to put it. I cleared two tables in the south 40, but the third, largest table is still piled with a bunch of stuff that is yet to be cleared. Hope to work on that soon. Good deal. Those are 120 bucks from AG. Woot was selling them through Amazon before Christmas for about 70 bucks plus tax. I bought two then, and they are good little units. They came with that Heirloom Salad pod kit, and I did plant one of those kits. Out of 6, only 2 sprouted. I kind of suspect it's some kind of close-out. Amazon was out of stock for this unit just after Christmas, but now they are back on Amazon for . . . 67.99 plus tax. And it comes with the same Heirloom Salad pod kit. (Of course, I ordered another one. They are great for lettuce.) My first was a $69.99 or something like that on Amazon, only I had a cash-back credit that brought it to $48.11. Then before Thanksgiving, there was a Woot deal for $49.95 and I got another. Now this! Hard to believe I have three of them, and for under $150 total!
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pfunnyjoy
AGA Bounty
Made more grow room in my office!
Posts: 621
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Post by pfunnyjoy on Jan 13, 2024 0:43:38 GMT -5
Did the first rinse and refill on the kale tonight. I hope I didn't go overboard with nutrients, because when I set the garden up, my gallon jug didn't quite fill the reservoir all the way and I had to add a decent bit of water before it got to the fill line. Tonight, I guess the roots are now taking up that space, because the gallon jug of nutrients went EXACTLY to the fill line! Just when I was counting on the additional water to dilute it a little. Oops! Live and learn! So I've jumped from EC of 0.7 to EC of 1.8! Gonna roll with it, and hope the plants can handle it. It's certainly in range for mature kale, I'm just not sure if seedlings can handle it. If not, I'll do my best to save them with an emergency R&R. The smaller Russian Red was previously on the far right, but I switched it with the other Russian Red and it's doing better now. I think it just had a slower start than the rest and wanted more light.
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Post by lynnee on Jan 14, 2024 0:17:08 GMT -5
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slw
AGA Bounty
Posts: 775
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Post by slw on Jan 14, 2024 16:44:00 GMT -5
Here are my spinach babies; 2 days in AG pods...
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Post by lynnee on Jan 14, 2024 20:22:03 GMT -5
Today I terminated one Bounty project and sanitized the AG garden in the dishwasher. Separating the halves of the grow deck definitely gets easier with practice! Also I did R&Rs on 5 Bounties and 2 Farm 12XLs.
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Post by lynnee on Jan 14, 2024 20:27:46 GMT -5
Here are my spinach babies; 2 days in AG pods... Those are doing so well! I can't wait to see more photos as they develop.
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Post by Clovis Sangrail on Jan 15, 2024 1:17:11 GMT -5
I am watching all these spinach posts because I have a new Harvest on the way.
Of particular interest to me -- How is your spinach yield going to compare to average lettuce yield? And how long until it bolts?
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mike
The Pepper King
Posts: 3,661
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Post by mike on Jan 15, 2024 1:40:11 GMT -5
The spinach doesn't last long. I've already snipped the plants seed pods twice. They are about 40 days old.
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pfunnyjoy
AGA Bounty
Made more grow room in my office!
Posts: 621
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Post by pfunnyjoy on Jan 18, 2024 2:03:58 GMT -5
My very first kale harvest! It was only about 4 leaves, and only the Dwarf Siberian. Mainly because the leaves were starting to shade the Russian Red/Ragged Jack. I did taste a bit raw and they were nice. But I put them, plus some Tatsoi, and some Italian Dandelion in a green juice tonight. The greens were chopped and are in the bowl on the top right. Other ingredients included a zucchini, a green bell pepper, 3/4 of a lime with peel, a romaine heart, a small Granny Smith apple, a bit of ginger, and two small sprigs of Aerogarden cilantro. It made 3 cups worth and was delicious! The juice! Look at that color! I'm kind of in the middle of a pain flare-up from my spine troubles, and green juice helps me a bit with that. It's especially nice to have a bit to harvest, the grocery store is near picked clean of produce according to hubby. Everyone goes to stock up before a wintry mix storm. Freezing rain, sleet, snow expected ... and we live on a steep hill. So I'm thankful for the Aerogardens! In other breaking news, my little heirloom cherry tomato is starting to show flower buds! I have a lot of Aerogarden tending to catch up on tomorrow. I tweaked a wrist carrying a vacuum upstairs, so I'm behind on gardening.
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