Orache: sowing, cultivation, harvest

Description and botany

Orache is a leafy vegetable of family Chenopodiaceae, native to Central Asia and Siberia. It was known and cultivated in central Europe and by Greeks and Romans, and was commonly grown in the Middle Ages, at that time called hortulana (from Latin hortus, garden) before being supplanted by spinach.

It remained widely cultivated into the 19th century and inherited many names: Lady of the Gardens, Garden Orache, Cultivated Orache, Giant Spinach, False Spinach, Spanish Wheat, Cabbage of Love, the Prude Woman, the Coquette or Fat Hen!

Its Latin name is Atriplex hortensis, a genus that includes around a hundred species. The genus name, Atriplex, comes from the Greek trephein and means “to nourish”. The specific epithet, hortensis, comes from Latin and means “from the garden”.

Orache is an annual plant with rapid and spectacular development, its habit is upright and its height ranges from 1 to 2.5 metres. Its channelled stem is glabrous and green, bearing large alternate leaves of hastate-triangular shape, entire or dentate, the colour varying according to variety. At the end of the day, the upper leaves raise to protect the apical shoot. It is a plant sensitive to increasing day length, which causes it to produce a long flowering stem bearing male and female flowers grouped in panicules of a greenish colour. It is an allogamous plant whose flowers are wind-pollinated.

Botanical plate of Atriplex hortensis – red and green orache in leaf – flowering and ripe seeds

Cultivated varieties

Blonde Orach - Ferme de Sainte Marthe seeds

Arroche Blonde is a variety that produces pale green, even yellow, leaves with a flavour similar to spinach. With rapid growth it can reach 2 metres in height at ripeness.

• Height at maturity 1,50 m

See the product sheet

Red Orach

Arroche Rouge is a variety with red leaves. It is slightly larger than Arroche Blonde and can reach 2.5 metres in height at ripeness under ideal growing conditions.

• Height at maturity 1,50 m

See the product sheet

Green Orach - Ferme de Sainte Marthe seeds

Arroche Verte is a variety with green, crinkled leaves that resemble those of spinach. Like the other varieties, it can reach 2 metres in height at ripeness. This variety is very old; it was mentioned in Vilmorin-Andrieux's book 'Les Plantes Potagères'.

• Height at maturity 1,50 m

See the product sheet

Sow orache

Where and when to sow orache?

Sowing of orache takes place from March to August, directly in open ground. Staggered sowings allow harvest of leaves all year round. Germination temperature for orache is between 15 and 20°C; emergence generally takes between 6 and 10 days.

How to sow orache?

To sow orache in vegetable patch :

1. Draw a furrow 1 to 2 cm deep in rows 40 cm apart,
2. Sow in small groups of three seeds, spaced 40 cm apart in all directions,
3. Cover seeds with soil and firm down with back of rake,
4. Water gently using watering-can rose.

When young plants have 3 to 4 leaves, carry out a thinning, leaving only the best young plant.

It is also possible to sow more densely to harvest young plants entire before they reach complete ripeness.

Cultivation, care and companion planting

Arroche is an undemanding vegetable that will make do with fairly poor or previously manured soil. However, fresh, light and humus-bearing soil is preferable for higher yields. It can be grown in sun or partial shade. Its only weakness is its tendency to bolt rapidly to seed during dry spells. To remedy this drawback, we recommend staggering sowing over time.

Routine maintenance is limited to regular weeding and hoeing. Although drought-tolerant, adding a protective mulch helps to limit premature bolting. To encourage leaf development, pinch out the tips of the stems from time to time; bolting is thereby delayed.

Because of its vigorous summer growth, arroche provides shade to neighbouring crops. It will therefore be beneficial to beetroot, lettuces, radishes and turnips. In contrast, it is a poor companion for potatoes, as it would inhibit their growth.

Arroche self-seeds; here it grows among onions. They can be harvested entire to avoid competing too much with onions.

Harvesting and storing

Orache leaves are picked as they develop, according to needs. Note that young tender leaves are best and that the plant produces new leaves after they have been cut. First harvests usually occur 2 to 4 months after sowing. You can also cut the entire plant while it is still small.

Orache does not keep very well in the fridge because it tends to soften. It is preferable to consume it a few hours after harvest. However, you can freeze it after blanching it for 3 minutes in boiling salted water.

Uses and nutritional benefits

Orache leaves are prepared like spinach: they can be eaten raw in salads or cooked quickly covered, baked in a gratin, used in a pie, or pan-fried. Their flavour pairs well with sorrel. Young leaves have a slight iodine flavour and are best eaten raw in salads.

It is a low-calorie vegetable, high in fibre, vitamin C (more than spinach) and minerals. The red variety contains anthocyanins, antioxidant molecules. Given its oxalic acid content, it should nevertheless be consumed in moderation by people prone to kidney stones.

A beautiful and appetising splash of colour in salads with red orache.