Gardening: Slip some spinach into sunny spots

There are a few plants I like to have on hand always in my vege garden. I plant them regularly to ensure I'm never caught short. Lettuce is one. Rocket is another. And one other is spinach. We add it to salads, quiches, pies and lasagnes - just about everything.

Grab some spinach seedlings. Once you've got them, you need to find a spot to plant them.

Spinach likes full sun to partial shade, and soil that is moist with a pH around 6-7, similar to conditions you've been growing tomatoes in. If it's too low, add lime.

Before you start gardening, it pays to mix some compost or a good general fertiliser like nitrophoska blue into the soil.

Then simply plant your seedlings around 20cm apart.

If you want, you can plant the spinach seedlings between your brassicas (cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli). The idea is that as you harvest your spinach, the brassicas take a little longer to grow and start to fill up the space the spinach was in.

Spinach is also pretty tasty to slugs and snails, so keep an eye out for these slimy pests, or try our foolproof beer bait.

Lastly, remember to stagger your planting. Plant more every couple of weeks if you want a constant supply of spinach.

Once it's ready to harvest, simply pick the leaves off it.

The younger leaves will have a slightly gentler flavour compared to the mature leaves, so experiment with the taste.

Pick the leaves often, even if you're not eating them.

This will ensure the plant doesn't become overgrown with leaves, which will inhibit its growth.

Tod Palenski runs Awapuni Nurseries, www.awapuni.co.nz. Awapuni Nurseries' seeds are stocked by supermarkets, the Warehouse and Bunnings. Alternatively, jump online to www.awapuni.co.nz to get spinach seedlings delivered to your door. The nurseries guarantee you'll be happy with the seedlings they send, or they'll be replaced, no questions asked.