Key information
Colour: Green

In season: March – June 

Power to perform: Spinach is a good source of iron. Iron helps make red blood cells to carry oxygen around your body, giving you lots of energy to do the activities you love.

Grow me: Spinach is a hardy plant and grows best in mild (not too hot, not too cold) climates. As spinach can survive colder weather, it can be harvested throughout the year, but is at its best in early spring.

Did you know?

• Spinach was first grown in southwest Asia. The popular vegetable was traded far and wide and (as recipes prepared for King Richard II show) reached British shores by the 1300s.
• In the 1930s, US spinach growers credited the cartoon Popeye with a 33% increase in the amount of spinach consumed in the United States.
• Today, China is the world’s biggest Spinach grower. It produces about 85% of the world’s spinach! 

Ideas garden
Remember to ask an adult's permission before experimenting with any spinach ideas!

Get creative

Lots of different vegetables can be used to make natural dyes. For instance, red cabbage will make a blueish/ purple dye, or onion skins can produce a yellow dye. Spinach – you guessed it – will produce a green dye!

Found a bag of spinach in the fridge that’s past its best? This activity is a creative way to make use of any wilted leaves, reducing food waste.  
 
To make the dye, roughly chop spinach leaves and simmer them in water until the water has turned green. Leave the mixture to cool then strain the leaves, using a bowl to collect the freshly made dye. 
 
Get started: Paint a watercolour artwork using your natural spinach dye.  
 
Go further: Can you make a tie-dye t-shirt using only natural ingredients? (Top tip: before adding your fabric to a vegetable dye, boil the material in a solution of water and vinegar. It may not smell nice, but it will act as a fixative to help keep your colours nice and bright.) 
 
Ways to adapt: Natural dye can be used to decorate all sorts of everyday household items, like wool, a reusable cotton shopping bag, or even a pillow case! Why not transform scrap fabric into colourful reusable gift wrap? 

Get cooking

Spinach is used all over the world and in lots of different types of cooking. How about stir-frying your spinach with garlic for a delicious side dish? Or make spinach part of your main course by cooking up some super tasty chickpea and spinach burgers, or a protein-packed sweet potato and spinach gratin?

For any budding chefs, you can impress your friends and put your skills to the test with a spinach, feta and nut puff party pie. Yum!