Okinawa Spinach Starter Plants

Description

Large starter plant is well established in a fiber pot ready to be added to your food forest. Okinawa spinach is an ornamental ground cover and edible vegetable. This delicious leaf is great fresh and it’s described as having a spicy lemon pepper flavor or a hint of pine. The leaves are crisp and crunchy. They can be cooked and both the stems and leaves are edible. The younger leaves have a better flavor than the older leaves. The leaves are a beautiful green with a purple bottom side. It is known as cholesterol spinach as many claim it can lower cholesterol.

Easily grown in zones 9 – 11 they require full sun to part sun and have basic watering needs. Okinawa spinach can reach a height of 1 to 2 feet. It doesn’t require much for nutrients or have many pests that attack it. It is best to cut back flowering branches to promote new shoot growth because the shoots and leaves are what is harvested. These can be easily grown in containers or windowsills.

In east Asia, it has been valued as a medicinal herb for thousands of years. It is an excellent source of vitamin C, A, K, potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium, flavonoids, zinc, magnesium.