Spinach is a powerhouse of nutrition and the chief representative food for healthy eating. Spinach thrives in weather that’s too cold for lettuce to survive. It also grows quickly, allowing you to harvest spinach multiple times each season.
There are essentially three types of spinach and they are categorized by leaf types.
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Savoyed spinaches are heavily wrinkled.
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Semi-savoyed spinaches are more subtly wrinkled.
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The smooth or flat spinaches lack wrinkling.
What makes spinach fascinating is the variety of cultivars available in all sizes and shapes. To make your work of deciding which ones are the best to grow, we have curated a list of the 8 most unique spinach cultivars.
A La Carte
A La Carte is a Savoy hybrid shaped distinctly like that of a lamb’-quarter (also called Pigweed). Its flavorful foliage makes it a beautiful addition to salad bowls. After 30 days of sowing them, you can start plucking the leaves or wait 45 days to cut the whole plant at once.
Avon
The hybrid, semi-Savoy Avon grows fast and its leaves are ready to be plucked in just 25 days. The plant takes 20 more days to mature and it bolts slowly as well.
Baby’s Leaf
Baby’s leaf is a flat leaf type and is unique for its extremely short stems which leave you with lots of leafy goods without chopping any long stems. Baby’s leaf is ready to be plucked in 30 to 40 days.
Carmel
Carmel has semi-savoyed leaves that are extremely upright and incredibly uniform in size, making them easy to harvest. Carmen grows quickly and is ready for plucking in just 25 days. The plant matures in 40 days. This hybrid is slow to bolt and is a reliable germinator resistant to downy mildew.
Emperor
Emperor got its name from its semi-Savoy upright stalks and its defense against downy mildew. This hybrid also has a high germination rate. The leaves can be plucked in 30 days and the plant matures in 45 days.
Flamingo
Flamingo bolts slowly and is also resistant to downy mildew. Flamingoes are known to be heat lovers, more so than many of their siblings. Flamingo got its name from its arrow-shaped leaves that resemble the feet of Flamingo birds. You can start harvesting the leaves in 30 days or cut the plant altogether in 40 days.
Hammerhead
Hammerhead is a quick top bolt cultivar of spinach and should be grown in early spring or late fall. It is however resistant to rust and mildew. Its foliage is large, savoyed, and oval-shaped. It is ready to be plucked in 27 days or wait 35 days for full-sized leaves.
Kolibri
Kolibri is a favorite among people for its cut-and-come-again growth style. It is resistant to downy mildew and its semi-savoyed leaves repopulate quickly after you harvest them. You can wait 45 days to pluck the fully formed leaves but the leaves are ready for harvest in a month.
