Plant of the Week
Spinach
Latin: Spinacia oleracea
It's over. You missed it. While Popeye wasn't in attendance at
the International Spinach Conference, he served as a kind of unofficial mascot
for the group of about 60 scientists, growers and packers who met to discuss all
things spinach.
Teddy Morelock, the vegetable breeder with the University of
Arkansas Department of Horticulture who has the largest publicly-funded spinach
breeding program in the nation, hosted the group.
Spinach (Spinacia oleracea) is a cool season vegetable of the
Chenopodium family that is most closely related botanically to beets, Russian
thistle and the common weed lamb's quarter. It's grown only for its deep
green, succulent leaves which are an extremely rich source of vitamin A.
Spinach plants produce two distinct leaf forms, the savoy-leaf
and the flat-leaf types. The savoy-leaf type is extremely crinkled and is
primarily used for the fresh market because of its superior eye appeal.
The term "savoy" appears to come from the region in France by
the same name where the instructions for preparing spinach for the table
included thoroughly washing it 12 times. The flat-leafed types are mostly grown
for processing because they are easier to wash free of grit.
Spinach originated in Persia (today's Iran) from where it was
exported to China by the 7th century. It made its way to Europe about the time
of Marco Polo's visit in the 14th century and arrived in the New World with the
earliest settlers. During the early years of life in America, it seems to have
been just another vegetable, but all of that changed when it got its very own
press agent.
Popeye's association with spinach is a bit more murky. In 1911,
Polish scientist Casimir Funk identified a substance he called "vital amine" in
unpolished rice which prevented beriberi. About the same time, British scientist
Frederick Hopkins demonstrated that something in milk prevented blindness in his
lab rats. Fittingly, University of Wisconsin scientist E V. McCollum isolated
two necessary fractions, a fat soluble A and a water soluble B, as essential for
normal development in rats. In 1930, the chemical structure of vitamin A was
identified.
During the 20's and 30's the U.S. Department of Agriculture used
its home economist staff to promote the use of leafy green vegetables such as
spinach as a source of vitamin A.
Popeye's use of spinach, no doubt taken from the ongoing
research in vitamins, provided just the right elixir to enable him to best Bluto
at every turn. The publicity caused spinach to rise to the third most popular
vegetable served to children.
At least two towns - Alma in Arkansas and Crystal City, TX -
claim to be the spinach capitol of the world and they both have Popeye statues
to prove it.
But there seems to be a bit of delusion involved with boosterism
in both communities for the Central Valley of California is where over half of
the nation's spinach is produced. Springdale, with its own nifty Popeye statue
at the Allen Canning Plant offices, never got worked up enough to enter the race
to become Ground Zero of the spinach world.
Spinach can be grown in three distinct seasons in Arkansas gardens. The fall
planting is made in mid to late August with leaves ready to pick in November. In
central and south Arkansas, an overwinter planting can be made with seeds
planted in late October for early spring harvest. A spring planting can be made
by planting seeds as early as the ground can be worked in February. Spinach is
usually large enough to cut about eight weeks after planting.
By: Gerald Klingaman, retired
Extension Horticulturist
- Ornamentals
Extension News -
March 1, 2002
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