October 2026: Carmel Hybrid Spinach

This month’s seed kit features Carmel Hybrid Spinach. 

Carmel Hybrid Spinach

Carmel Spinach is a great choice for garden plots, raised beds, and containers. It can grow quickly and be  be harvested through the season! 

Planting Instructions

Culture: 

This cool-weather plant is best sown in early spring or fall and can be grown in containers or garden beds. Sow seeds about 1/2 deep in rows about 12–18 inches apart. For harvesting baby spinach, plant densely. Seedlings will emerge in about 7–14 days. Sow every 7–10 days to succession plant for continuous harvest. 

Water:

Keep soil consistently moist and mulch lightly. 

Harvest:

For tender baby leaves, begin harvesting once leaves are a few inches long, about 3–5 weeks after sowing. Full-sized bunches of spinach are ready in about 40 days, once plants reach 6–10 inches tall. To keep harvesting throughout the season, pick the outside leaves, allowing the center leaves to keep growing. To harvest the whole plant at once, cut it at the base and just above the soil line. Spinach leaves will develop a bitter flavor when they send up flowering stalks (also called bolting) Be sure to harvest before this happens. 

More About Carmel Hybrid Spinach

Spinach is a common food in many households. And for good reason! Leafy green vegetables are celebrated for being extremely nutritious and healthy. And among the leafy greens, spinach has a much milder flavor and a softer texture. Kale is famously bitter and crunchy, requiring significant cooking time or massaging to make it sweeter. Arugula, while not as firm and crunchy, has a sharp, peppery taste that some find objectionable. For many people, spinach is the obvious choice! 

Let’s take a closer look at the nutrients that spinach brings to the table. It contains high levels of vitamins A, C, K1, and many more. As for essential minerals, it has iron, calcium, and folic acid. It is also a great source of antioxidants. Thanks to these nutrients, eating spinach helps prevent many harmful diseases. It protects your eyes and helps you maintain healthy blood pressure. It has truly earned its superfood label. Spinach is delicious both raw and cooked, grows to maturity very quickly, and tolerates low temperatures well. For those of us who find ourselves impatient to enjoy the fruits of our labor, spinach is a rewarding addition to our gardens indeed!

Sautéed Spinach with Mushrooms and Caramelized Onions

 Serves: 2-4    Prep & Cook time: 60 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 onions, sliced
• ½-lb fresh spinach
• 1 TBS balsamic vinegar
• 1 cup of mushrooms, sliced
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 TBS olive or avocado oil, divided
• 1 TBS butter or ghee; salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Heat butter and 1 tbs. of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic and cook for 8–10 minutes, stirring frequently. Onions should start to brown, but do not allow them to burn. 
2. Reduce heat to medium or medium-low and continue to cook for about 20 minutes. Continue to stir frequently to prevent burning. Deglaze with balsamic vinegar, then remove the onions from the skillet. 
3. Increase heat to medium-high and heat the remaining oil. Add mushrooms and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook until tender, then add spinach and cook until spinach starts to wilt. Return the onions to the pan and stir to combine. Serve as a side dish. 

Craft: Remembrance Frame

You’ll Need:

• A picture (photo or printout)
• A greeting card or some folded paper bigger than the photo (consider reusing a greeting card) 
• Decorations: paper flowers, drawings or pictures of things related to the person, quotes or descriptions written on paper 
• Scissors and glue (with adult supervision) 

Instructions:

1. Place the photo centered on the inside of the front of the card. Trace around the edges.  
2. Remove the picture and draw a shape that is smaller than your photo’s edges. You can trace something else, use a ruler to measure half an inch on each side, or draw a shape you like.  
3. Using the scissors carefully, cut out your inner shape for the window of your frame. You can also ask for help if needed from a family member.  
4. Time to decorate your frame! Cut out and glue your decorations, use paint, whatever makes it look how you want!  
5. Carefully glue the picture around the edges, and place it facing out of the window of your frame. Then you can glue the card shut or leave it open. 
6. If you glue your card shut, cut out a triangle and glue one edge vertically, bending out the rest of the triangle open to act as a stand.