If you love spinach but live in a hot climate, orach might be the plant you are looking for to grow during the summer when conditions mean spinach bolts and run to seed.
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What is Orach?
Orach is a salad vegetable that has large fleshy leaves like spinach but a nuttier flavor. It thrives in cool weather but is also tolerant of heat in summer when spinach runs to seed or bolts. Orach rarely runs into problems of diseases in the home garden and the striking color of the foliage makes it an attractive edible plant to add to containers or gardens.
The leaves can be up to 5 inches long and 3 inches wide when grown in the right conditions and can be eaten raw or cooked.
Orach is popular in Europe and the red-colored varieties do not lose their color when cooked.
How to Grow Orach
Prepare your planting space by adding some compost to the soil. Orach loves to grow in fertile soil and adding homemade compost is the best way to help your growing orach get off to the best start!
Sow seeds in full sun about 2-3 weeks after the last frost in spring. Orach is best when planted early spring through to midsummer and seeds can be started indoors up to 3 weeks before the last frost then hardened off.
Sow seeds 1/4 inch deep and about 3 inches apart in seed trays
Caring for Orach
Keep plants moist by mulching and regular watering and begin harvesting leaves when the plants are about 6 inches tall which is about 50 days after sowing. Although the plant is drought tolerant, it can make the leaves taste bitter so keep the soil moist for the best-tasting leaves!
Pinch out flower buds to encourage more leaves and sow every 3-4 weeks to have succession planting to continue harvesting. This also makes the plant product new branches and more leaves to pick!
Keep an eye on your plants for aphids, treat your plants with a jet of water to knock off aphids from the plants or consider introducing ladybirds (ladybugs) as a natural predator.
The plants can reach 2 feet tall making them a striking addition to the garden.
Orach Companion Plants
Orach grew well with lettuces, garlic, Swiss chard, and kale. Orach should avoid being planted near potatoes.
Where to Get Orach
Red Flash – Adaptive Seeds
Red – Peaceful Vally Farm & Garden Supply
Aurora mixed orach (mix of greens and red colors) – Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
How to Save Orach Seeds
Orach seeds are really easy to save and it can self-seed amongst the garden bed if you leave it alone. If you want to save the seeds to grow next season, watch how to save them step by step in this video:
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