|
|
Post by peppero on Dec 5, 2011 6:50:42 GMT -5
has anybody grown strawberry spinach? jon
|
|
|
|
Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Dec 5, 2011 9:16:31 GMT -5
I planted whole dried fruits containing seeds this spring but they didn't germinate, or grew so slowly that they got lost in the weeds.
|
|
|
|
Post by spacecase0 on Dec 5, 2011 13:13:13 GMT -5
I have grown them and it worked well,
it is an amaranth kind of plant and is grown the same way,
and grows berries with the seeds in it,
they taste like amaranth.
they got about 2 foot tall, and grew well for me.
I saved seeds by letting the berries dry some
and used abrasion to get the seeds loose.
|
|
|
|
Post by atash on Dec 5, 2011 13:43:31 GMT -5
I've grown it, but it wasn't easy. Most of the seeds never germinated. One did.
Reputedly has seeds with short viability.
Try getting the freshest seed you can, and planting extras.
|
|
|
|
Post by extremegardener on Dec 5, 2011 16:43:29 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by olddog on Dec 5, 2011 21:15:07 GMT -5
Thank you all for sharing. I am having problems growing spinach, so am going to try this strawberry spinach, and hope I have better luck growing it. Thanks again.
olddog
|
|
|
|
Post by steev on Dec 5, 2011 22:14:28 GMT -5
I tried growing it once, got only sparse germination, thin growth, and puny berries. Had I had such success as extremegardener, I'd have been a lot more gratified.
|
|
|
|
Post by steev on Dec 5, 2011 22:24:15 GMT -5
olddog, have you tried New Zealand spinach? Works well here in California, and is very similar cooked, though not palatable raw, I think. It's a naturalized beach weed all along the coast. The best I ever had I foraged from the Emeryville mud flats, leaves as big as my palm.
|
|
|
|
Post by ottawagardener on Dec 6, 2011 10:11:19 GMT -5
I had to plant it three times (I think?) before success. The successful time was when I fall planted the berries in a partly shady but warm, sandy spot. The first time was with seeds: nada or nothing that I could find in the self sown section of the garden. The second time, I bought plants hoping that they would self seed: nope. The third time I sprinkled the variety from Wild Garden Seeds - Faster - they germinated in the spring, grew well and produced large berries. We'll see if they self seed.
|
|
|
|
Post by littleminnie on Dec 6, 2011 11:37:30 GMT -5
With my problem with Lamb's Quarters I think I should limit my chenopodaceas. ;D It looks interesting. I always wonder which is better Strawberry Spinach, Tetragonia or Malabar Spinach.  |
|
|
|
Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Dec 6, 2011 12:01:04 GMT -5
I also don't invite chenopodaceas into my garden any more. I thought last year that since lambsquarters grows so well in my garden that I would grow a domesticated version of it. When I saw how much more vigorously it grew, and that it tasted just the same (unappealing) as my native version I chopped the row down.
|
|
|
|
Post by spacecase0 on Dec 6, 2011 12:54:40 GMT -5
I never had a problem with germination,
and the seeds I let hit the ground did not come up the next year,
I wonder if I have the same kind as others here
the taste was not that good, so I will likely not be growing it again,
better to use the space for strawberries and spinach separate
|
|
|
|
Post by extremegardener on Dec 6, 2011 14:52:33 GMT -5
I tried growing it once, got only sparse germination, thin growth, and puny berries. Had I had such success as extremegardener, I'd have been a lot more gratified. I started out with seed from Tim Peters, so I'm sure he had done quite a bit of selection to it (his stuff is so amazing...). It does better in dryer situations than spinach, it has a tap root, some of which are 8" long. It could probably be developed to have a nice edible root over time. Tim was selecting for some biennial-ness, I believe. |
|
|
|
Post by olddog on Dec 8, 2011 10:27:59 GMT -5
Thanks, Steev, I had not tried growing New Zealand Spinach, will give it a try, can hardly believe the size of those leaves, wow!
This talk about chenopods has me laughing. I heard on EmmaCooper.org that fat hen was very good for chickens, so tried to buy some seed! Come to find out, it is a weed everywhere, just never noticed it here, dismissed it, as it is not a weed that is common here. I would have to search a long time to find even one plant, if that. If a person actually wants to grow a weed, then it becomes scarce, I guess, unless they want to remove it, then it is magically everywhere!
|
|
