For those of you who live in hot parts of the world, such as I do, in Phoenix, Arizona, you might be interested in growing Egyptian Spinach.

It's not really related to spinach at all. It is more closely related to okra and cotton. It is the jute plant.

It tastes okay in salads and as a cooked vegetable. I chop it up finely and add it to salads most of the time, and sometimes, I chop it up and add it to stir fries. It supposedly has a lot of vitamins and minerals in it.

And it's kind of neat to think that I am growin and eating something that the ancient pharaohs of egypt once ate thousands of years ago.

And last but not least, it is very easy to grow.

It seems to have no pest problems, and it laughs at our high heat. Our extremely hot summers don't cause it any problems at all. It does need to be watered, though, almost every day.

I've never heard of that before. How cool! I grow normal spinach and malabar and new zealand. Adding another type could be fun. Where did you get it?

Corchorus olitorius. Common names: Jute Mallow, Jews Mallow, Egyptian Spinach, Nalta, Bush Okra, Molokhia, Saluyot. It does like heat but has a relatively short DTM. http://www.kitazawaseed.com/se...

robynanne said:I've never heard of that before. How cool! I grow normal spinach and malabar and new zealand. Adding another type could be fun. Where did you get it?

I also grow Malabar spinach (Basella), but I give it full morning sun and then afternoon shade. It is a bit too hot here for it to survive the extremely hot afternoon sun, at least in my experience. It is a great plant. It grows from cuttings and from seeds. And I have both the red version and the green version. The green one has HUGE leaves, but the red one grows faster, and the red one seems to be able to handle the hot sun better than the green one.

I want to try the New Zealand spinach next year.

You'll like Egyptian spinach. It is so easy to grow. And fairly tasty. The key is to chop it up finely. Don't try to eat the leaves whole.

Its seed pods look like tiny okras.

It does fine in the ground and it also grows well in pots.

Sadly, it is an annual, and it dies out in the winter, even with no frost. It would be so nice if it would survive the winter, and then when spring came back it would be so big it would instantly produce a huge amount of greens. I wish I could find something like that, that would survive my summer's heat.

farmerdill said: Corchorus olitorius. Common names: Jute Mallow, Jews Mallow, Egyptian Spinach, Nalta, Bush Okra, Molokhia, Saluyot. It does like heat but has a relatively short DTM. http://www.kitazawaseed.com/se...

What does DTM mean?

And yes, it can be found at many online seed sellers. Their seeds seem to need fairly warm (70 degrees?) temperatures to germinate, but once that soil temperature is reached, they germinate fairly easily and readily. The seed can be scattered on top of the soil and still germinate once it gets warm. Or you can start the seed in pots indoors with the use of a heating pad.

Here's a video that shows them growing in full sun. Next time I grow them, I will plant them in full sun. They can take it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

And here's a video showing you can also propagate them from rooted cuttings--- which I did not know-- and that there is a red stemmed variety of them, and that the red stemmed variety seems to be more vigorous. I am going to look for the red stemmed variety next time.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=...

dtm-days to maturity?

Here's today's harvest of Egyptian spinach leaves, and I am also attempting to grow some new plants from cuttings.

Have been watching this plant
Thank-you for introducing me to something new.

AmargiaExp said:dtm-days to maturity?

Yes, exactly.

Jeff. Hi. New Zealand spanich is perennial.
Takes heat and frost.grows best with afternoon shade.more sun = more water.leafs and stems fleshy.good ground cover.i have a patch about 15 foot diameter under a huge tree it only gets a few hours of morning sun. You could plant some today. If your ground freezes in winter. You may need to cover it with
hay. ??? Raw it tastes pertty green. Boiled tastes similar to spanich. Good for soup.stew.and stir fry. And one neat thing is. You snap off the tender tips bout 3 or 4 inches.(they sprout off from there.) And you chop up stem and all. Stems are thick and tender if they snap off. Also if you step into them gently/occasionaly to pick
them. They'll be ok.😎
Your jute plant got my interest. Except you said it tastes ok ? You chop it finely.and dont eat it plain? You ever eat it plain boiled with butter or mayonnaise on it ?
Talkin greens hear....You ever try collards or rubarb chard (not related to rubarb). They take heat an frost. And when they want to bolt. If you keep cutting off the bolt heads so they cant make seeds. They wont die off ! Thumbs-up 😎.
Boy im slow texting 😕. Other-wise i'd go on and on... Oh !!! Hay !!! When you go to get your seeds get some SNOW PEAS !
Yum ! 😛
Its allready time to Plant them. Really!!!
Be sure there specifically snow peas!!!
Others have strings 👺# Blaah !!!
Lots of other stuff to plant now to. But you probably already know that !
Have fun with your garden. 😎😎😎