On Sat, 5 Jun 2004 21:38:21 +0100, "someone"
wrote:


DaveH wrote in message
.. .
I would like to try this and am looking for advice from others who
have done so.

Also, have you tried hot weather tolerant varieties New Zealand--grown
outdoors, not inside?

I would like to start some spinach but in southern PA it is now too
late to do so outside--too warm, will bolt.

also, day length makes it bolt.. even if it's not so hot. Broccoli is
way high in all kinds of vitamins, even higher in vitamin C than
orange juice.

Someone else was asking about growing spinach indoor a week or so ago,
and those posts should be viewable from the newsgroups on google's
news link. It was in either this group or rec. gardens.

You can try growing spinach under grow lights, but you'd have to do
some research on day length sensitivity or it would bolt indoors too
if it gets too many hours of light. I don't know if stray light from
other areas would be enough to "set it into bolt mode" or not. It's
an awful lot of trouble to go to in order to grow spinach when other
plants that are also nutritious or more sow without the oxalic acid
problems of spinach blocking assimilation of other nutrients.

Malabar spinach, new zealand spinach, orach in red and green are just
a few "hot weather alternatives" to spinach which would also provide
the nutrients that are present in "green leafy vegetables" and lots of
magnesium .. which a lot of folks are deficient in because they just
don't eat enough green leafy veggies.

Dinosaur Kale I hear is supposed to be delicious. Mustard and collard
greens. They're all better with a touch of frost, but still but are
usable along the way until frost..so you could plant them in late
summer for fall. In the mean time, there are oriental greens too,
tatsoi, tsai-tai , mizuna, along with all the traditional garden
greens.

Janice
Looking for any veggies/greens rich in vitamin B for health reasons.

DaveH

If you have an outdoors, start planting in August, Cavolo Nero kale will
last the winter even if you have a frost. Endive should be planted in late
summer, it's another one that will withstand frost.

I planted Cavolo Nero kale (Nero de Toscana) last autumn, and I only pulled
up the last plants a few weeks ago as they were going to seed.

If you can't do it outdoors, then do it indoors: sprouting carrot, kale,
mustard, broccoli seeds will all do well in your indoor sprouter.

New Zealand spinach is a different plant altogether, quite luscious and
leafy, but I found that even it suffered in the hot weather.

s.