New Zealand spinach?

[caroline7758]

We stayed on a lovely campsite in Galway last summer where the owners were passionate about the environment and every visitor was given a little packet of seeds to take away. We got New Zealand spinach seeds- just five very large seeds. Has anyone grown these?

[caroline7758]

[earlypea]

Yes, some time ago.

I found they did better if they fell on the soil from plants in the summer - so I reckon they do best with a bit of weathering to break down the seed coat.  The first year I sowed them they took several weeks to germinate, until I'd almost forgotten about them.

Personally, didn't enjoy them for eating purposes, although others did - it was 50/50.  Give them a go, anything new to grow is fun.

[Vinlander]

For me, they are the best tasting spinach bar true summer spinach. They are also much more fleshy, so even better than summer spinach in salads. Maybe a hint of pea flavour too.

You do need to pick 5 leaves to replace one spinach leaf, and you need to remove any seeds (in the axils) - unless they are really tiny they are woody.

Cheers.