Why We Love Spinach More Than Popeye
You probably already know that spinach is a healthy food. But did you know that spinach belongs to the amaranth family? Yes, you read that correctly—it’s in the same family as quinoa and other grains. No wonder why spinach is a super food! The leafy green is an excellent source of vitamins and minerals, including magnesium, iron, calcium, potassium, manganese, copper, folate and vitamins B2, B6, K, E and A.
Go Ahead, Load Your Plate
When you make spinach a major part of your meal, you don’t have to worry about calories—a cup of uncooked spinach only has 5 calories. In addition, spinach’s water content is about 92 percent, which means it is super-hydrating, and the leafy veg is also packed with fiber. In case you didn’t already know—fiber is fab for our digestion and can reduce cholesterol levels.
Spinach: The Versatile Green
Since spinach has a mild taste, there are many ways to incorporate it into meals. We enjoy raw spinach in salads and smoothies. We also chop it and cook it in rice dishes, casseroles and stir-fry. Sometimes we hide it in meatballs, so our kids will eat something green.
The Unfortunate News About Grocery Store Spinach
Fruits and veggies immediately begin losing nutrients when they’re picked. Most produce loses 30 percent of nutrients 72 hours after harvest. It’s worse for spinach. A University of California study shows that some spinach can lose 90 percent within the first 24 hours after harvest. So that grocery-store-bought plastic container of spinach may not have many nutrients at all. Just think about how long it takes to get your leafy greens from the farm, into containers and onto a truck for delivery to the grocer—several days at least.
Knowing this can be frustrating for people trying to incorporate healthy foods into their diets. What’s the point of paying for leafy greens at the grocery store when they’re not even doing their job?
Grow Spinach with Planted Places
We love growing spinach at Planted Places. First, it’s easy to grow. The second reason has to do with taste and nutrients.
Whenever possible, you want to eat the freshest greens possible and you want to eat organic greens. That's why we only sell certified organic seedlings in our Seedling shop.
We ship spinach seedlings directly from the greenhouse so that the seedlings are in tip top shape for transplanting into your garden.
When we grow and harvest leafy greens from the Planted Wall, we know we’re getting the freshest, most nutritious produce possible.
Also, we can worry less about food contamination when we grow it ourselves. The CDC reported that from 2014 to 2018, 51 foodborne illness outbreaks were linked to commercially grown leafy greens. Not to mention, “some research shows that greens cause more cases of food poisoning than any other food, including beef,” according to Consumer Reports.
What’s incredible about the Planted Wall and Membership is that once you join, we ship out everything you need to grow beautiful leafy greens and herbs on your Planted Wall. You get pre-grown organic seedlings, pots, organic soil, and organic fertilizer and amendments. Since we grow with the seasons, you get the best plants for the time of year. What’s also nice is that you don’t even have to think about replenishing your plants or supplies because your membership takes care of that.
Join the Grow Your Green Thumb Workshop
If you're interested in becoming a Planted Places' Member, but are not ready to commit, you can try us out with our Grow Your Green Thumb Workshop bundle. It’s a hands-on experience where we take care of it all—from sending you organic starter plants, organic soil, organic fertilizer and sturdy felt pots—to showing you how to plant, care for and harvest your leafy greens and herbs.
Inside the Workshop, we will provide video tutorials, custom coaching, and live training throughout the week. At the end, you’ll be ready to move into the Planted Wall and start growing immediately. Learn all the details of the workshop here.