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?
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.
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.