Post #85 Plant Profile: New Zealand Spinach (Tetragonia tetragonioides)
Perhaps one of our favorite spinach substitutes, this bright green leafy perennial thrives in hot weather. New Zealand spinach, native to New Zealand, thus the name, tastes pretty darn close to true spinach, more so than many of the other hot weather cooking greens we have discussed in previous plant profiles.
One of the main reasons New Zealand spinach makes it to the top of our list of spinach substitutes is its texture. It’s thick green leaves are tasty when raw and hold their texture when cooked. There is nothing mushy or slimy about these greens unlike many other hot weather cooking greens. This makes them a great green to saute up with some garlic for a quick and easy side.
New Zealand spinach is a low growing plant that spreads easily. It makes a very attractive groundcover with insignificant flowers that you can easily grow in your front yard without the neighbors suspecting you’re growing food. This makes it especially useful for people with HOAs.
Note, though, that the heat here encourages more growth and larger plants than you see when they are grown up North. Here in South Florida it can grow up to a foot tall and twice as wide if you let it! Just prune often, and by prune we mean harvest, and it will maintain it’s disguise as a low growing ornamental ground cover.
Best of all, it has little trouble from pests.
Nutrition Highlights
Like most edible greens, New Zealand spinach is a smart choice to round out any meal, packed with the vitamins and minerals your body craves:
- High in minerals calcium, manganese, and phosphorus
- Packed with vitamins A, E, and K
- Contains a healthy amount of B vitamins
- Known for its Vitamin C content, it was actually eaten often by Captain Cook and his crew to prevent scurvy while sailing in the 1700s.
Word to the Wise
Interestingly, although New Zealand spinach is not in the same family as common spinach, they share yet another commonality – high oxalate content. These organic compounds found in some plant foods can bind with calcium and iron, inhibiting their absorption in the body.
Some people are more susceptible to the ill effects of oxalates, and some have no issues whatsoever. Just something to keep in mind if you are regularly enjoying New Zealand spinach in your diet rotation.
How do you eat New Zealand Spinach?
Eat it raw or cooked, but if you are eating it raw it’s best to use the younger leaves as the older leaves generally have a higher oxalate content. Cooking the leaves will lessen the oxalates.
Raw it is great in smoothies for a nutritional boost. Add it to salads tossed with a variety of mixed greens to keep things interesting. Pile on sandwiches or add to wraps for a refreshing crunch.
Use it cooked just as you would spinach. As we mentioned its an easy green to chop and saute for a quick, healthy side. Add it to stir fries towards the end of cooking, add to soups and stews, or use it as a bed for an entree to rest on.
Get creative and blanch it for a pizza topping, make a homemade pesto with a combination of raw spinach and basil, add to ricotta for lasagna fillings, blanch and chop to add to a quiche filling.
How do you grow New Zealand Spinach?
It grows well from seed, but starts transplant well, too. You can direct sow the seeds into your bed or container, or start them early inside in a start tray under grow lights or in a south facing window.
The seeds can be finicky, here are some tips to get started successfully:
- If harvesting the seeds yourself from spent plants, do so in Autumn when the seedheads are mature and the seeds are well formed and dark brown to black.
- Store seeds in a cool, dark place until you are ready to germinate them for a new season, usually around March.
- Soak the seeds in room temperature water for 24 hours before you plan to plant them.
- Prepare your bed or container with some compost and seed starting mix, then thoroughly water the area.
- Sow seeds about a half inch deep in moist to wet soil.
- Keep soil evenly moist until the plants are well established.
- Established plants can handle some drought conditions, but they will do better and produce more if they are regularly watered throughout the hottest season.
Nip Weeds in the Bud EARLY! (Or live with the consequences)
New Zealand spinach grows slowly in the beginning, so it is easy for weeds move quickly into the rich, moist soil around your young plants. Pull the weeds regularly, when they are young and easy to pluck.
No matter what you do, do not let those weeds go to seed! They will readily self-sow and you’ll end up with a bed of undesirable weeds with very little spinach to speak of.
Where can you find New Zealand Spinach for sale?
You may find it at your local farmer’s market in season, and this is the perfect opportunity to try this delicious green before you start growing it.
Some of our local nurseries here in South Florida stock the starts as well as the seeds. If you have a friend who already grows it, ask for a couple of starts, then let them form seedheads at the end of the season. Either collect the seed when it’s matured or let them release naturally and reseed the bed they are in. Poof – free greens!
When harvesting greens throughout the summer months, I like to harvest like I am pruning, or vice versa. If you grow enough variety, you can take a little of this, a little of that for your salad and cooked greens during your daily garden meditations, or simply every couple of days to store in the fridge. If you cut the stems down deep in a patch of “ground cover”, or take each leaf with its stem, you can’t even tell the plant was pruned!
What edible ground covers do you like to grow? Share a picture or some information on your favorites, we love hearing from you!
Until Next time,
Happy Gardening,
Mary