Spinach Matador Organic - Viking Spinach

Matador Spinach or Viking Spinach is a variety with dark green and fleshy leaves. When raw, it adds its very characteristic taste to all mixed salads. When cooked, it is best eaten lightly blanched. This vegetable has fallen out of favour and deserves to be rediscovered with recipes such as Lebanese fatayers, Indian recipes, etc. All spices and seasonings enhance Spinach beautifully. This particularly hardy variety is well suited to growing in autumn with excellent productivity, but it can be grown all year round. It can be sown from March and April to harvest in April and June then in August - September for harvesting in October and November.

Traditionally mistreated by school catering services, spinach is the vegetable most dreaded by children. Yet, it is a tasty vegetable that can be prepared in a thousand ways: raw in spring salads, in Japanese fritters, quickly stir-fried in a wok, or even in a savoury tart with goat cheese or salmon.

Originating from Iran and belonging to the Chenopodiaceae family, like Beetroot and Chard, spinach is widely cultivated worldwide for its flavour and nutritional qualities. While the famous Popeye long touted its iron content, its remarkable feature is its high content of vitamin B9.

The numerous varieties of spinach require either short or long days to prevent them from going to seed too quickly. Each variety has specific requirements that must be respected: spring and/or autumn, winter, and even summer. Some varieties have pungent seeds, traditionally used for spring or late autumn sowings. You can grow spinach all year round if you choose your seeds carefully.

Spinach prefers consistent, moist, and rich soils, particularly rich in nitrogen and potash. They thrive in the sun during winter and in partial shade or even shade during the summer or in hot regions.

Harvest: Spinach is harvested leaf by leaf, according to their growth and needs. The leaves located around the outside of the plant are cut, allowing the heart to continue developing and producing new leaves. The entire clump is only harvested when the plant shows the first signs of going to seed.

Storage: Spinach does not keep well in the refrigerator as it tends to soften, it is best consumed a few hours after harvesting. However, you can freeze it after blanching it for 3 minutes in salted boiling water.

The gardener's tip: Did you know that spinach can be used as green manure? Sown in autumn at a rate of 30 grams per square metre it can absorb and store nitrogen present in the soil. This way, the nitrogen is preserved and not leached away by winter rains. A good way to recycle a forgotten packet of seeds past its expiration date!