Picking Spinach Leaves, Weeding, and Adding Wood Ash

Yesterday I decided to pick some of the spinach leaves that were getting quite large outside.  I like picking the leaves when they get large enough that they can be used for a sandwich.  You can pick them small and toss them into a salad, but I prefer larger darker leaves rather than small paler ones.

One thing you need to keep in mind is not picking too many leaves because this could cause them to go to seed very quickly and that would end your spinach season.  So to prevent this from happening I always leave a couple of large leaves on the plant.

This way you are not shocking them with removing too much of the leaves.  As long as you keep feeding them they will continue to produce delicious green foliage.  Here are some pictures I took of before and after cutting the leaves.

Using a pair of scissors or a knife you can cut off the large older leaves.

Here is a Picture of the plant after cutting the necessary leaves.

Not only did I pick the leaves I also added lime to my spinach plants and at the same time removed any weeds that may have began to grow around them.  This is a great way to help your plants absorb as much nutrients as possible without them having to fight with other weeds.  It also allows aeration of the roots as well.

It is always best to supply them with lime just before it begins to rain.  This way you can conserve on water and utilize the rainfall to activate the lime that you place around your plants.  By weeding around your plants it creates a loose soil which will also allow for easy drainage and the roots will be able to suck up as much of the water as possible.

I add about a spoonful of lime to each plant and mix it in with the surrounding soil.  Limestone pellets are activated by water and with the coming rainfall they will slowly be absorbed by the spinach plants for the rest of their season.

Here is what they looked like after weeding around them and mixing in the lime.

I also decided to try adding some wood ash to these plants as well.  I have never used wood ash in the past and have only heard good things from others using it for your garden.

I only had a little bit to use, but I am only doing a test to see if it really is as good as many people have told me.  I added it to the plants who needed it the most or the ones that happen to have a slow start in the garden.  After weeding them and mixing lime into the soil I spread around the wood ash in about a six inch radius around the plant.

Normally I would water in the lime and the wood ash, but because it is going to rain the next couple of days I just placed it without adding water.

Adding it to the top of the soil may not be the most effective way of using wood ash and it probably should be placed before you begin planting.  Unfortunately I did not have this in the beginning of the season.  Most of this ash is from the previous year plant debris that now will feed this years fruits and vegetables.

On a side note I added lime to my onions because the soil was probably low on lime and this will help in making the onions taste sweeter when you pick them at the end of the season.  Only about three spoonfuls will be necessary for each tote.