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When to plant
spinach in the UK
Bolts the moment it gets hot. Best in spring and autumn. Pick little and often — a whole plant cooks down to about two mouthfuls.
Work out your own dates
Starts from the recommended sow date for your area. Sowed on a different day, or planted out late? Adjust below and the harvest moves with it.
Using the UK-average last frost · 15 April · add your postcode to tune it
Growing journey
7 weeks from sowing to harvest
Get spinach seeds
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What spinach need
Partial shade. Moist, rich soil.
Spacing
15cm between plants · 20cm between rows
Space evenly in rows. Thin seedlings early to avoid crowding.
Varieties worth growing
Giant Winter
commonHardy enough to stand right through the winter, still offering tender leaves when the rest of the garden has gone quiet. A steadfast, generous thing for the cold months, when greens are hardest to come by.
Saag paneer
Wilt a great heap of spinach, blitz it roughly, then fry with cumin, garlic, ginger and a little garam masala, and fold in cubes of golden paneer. The heap cooks down to barely two portions — and that's exactly as it should be.
Perpetual Spinach
commonNot a true spinach but a chard in disguise — and all the better for it, cropping for months after ordinary spinach has run to seed in the first warm spell. Cut it often and it simply keeps coming.
Wilted greens with garlic and chilli
Hot pan, slick of olive oil, sliced garlic until golden, a pinch of chilli flakes, then the leaves for thirty seconds. A squeeze of lemon and it's done. The simplest good thing.
Bloomsdale
uncommonThick, crinkled, savoy-like leaves that hold a dressing beautifully and are slower than most to run to seed. An American heirloom from the 1920s, and quite at home in a British bed.
Spinach and ricotta stuffed shells
Wilt the crinkly leaves, squeeze dry, mix with ricotta, nutmeg, and parmesan. Stuff into giant pasta shells, cover with tomato sauce, bake until bubbling.
Medania
uncommonRound, dark-green leaves with genuinely good bolt resistance for a true spinach — one of the best for sowing into summer, when most kinds are already wilting in the heat. A reliable friend through the warmer weeks.
Creamed spinach
Wilt a heap of leaves, squeeze them dry and chop, then stir into butter, garlic, cream and a grating of nutmeg. Rich, silky, and as good as any steakhouse side.
Good companions
When to sow spinach
Based on UK average frost date. Enter your postcode for exact dates, or find your city.
Where to buy spinach seeds
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What you'll need for spinach
The stuff beginners wish they'd bought sooner.
Each seedling gets its own root space. Less root disturbance when planting out means faster establishment.
More in our equipment guide →Like lettuce, spinach bolts fast in heat. Shade and moisture are the key to keeping leaves coming.
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Get your exact dates
Enter your postcode for personalised planting dates for spinach.