New Zealand Spinach

Tetragonia tetragonioides

vegetable

New Zealand spinach is a sprawling, heat-tough green from coastal Australia and New Zealand with succulent triangular leaves that look and cook like spinach but hold their quality straight through summer. Captain James Cooks expedition fed it to the crew to prevent scurvy. Plants spread 2 to 4 ft as a low ground cover, suppress weeds, and tolerate salt spray and lean soil.

✅ Plant alongside

Good neighbors that attract beneficial insects or deter pests

• Tomato — New Zealand spinach uses heat that bolts true spinach, filling the bed alongside warm-season crops
• Pepper — Shares full sun and warm-season conditions with a sprawling habit that does not shade tall crops
• Bean — Bush beans add nitrogen that supports the leafy growth of New Zealand spinach
• Cucumber — Sprawling New Zealand spinach acts as living mulch under taller cucumber trellises

🛡️ Pest & disease prevention

Proactive ways to stop trouble before it starts — tap a name with an arrow for its full guide

• Aphids →

  Hose off heavy colonies and support resident ladybugs; plants rarely have serious trouble

• Slugs and snails →

  Most likely in damp spring weather on young seedlings; use grit or traps until plants toughen

• Leaf miners →

  Far less affected than true spinach; remove and dispose of any tunneled leaves you find

🌾 Harvest & storage

Begin picking once plants are 6 to 8 inches across, taking 3 to 4 inch tender tip clusters (stem and small leaves together) rather than stripping individual leaves; harvest like this once or twice a week and the plant rebuilds quickly. Cook the leaves rather than eat raw, since they contain oxalates - a one-minute blanch in boiling water plus a cold rinse removes most of the soluble oxalates and the texture cooks much like true spinach.

🥗 Nutrition & benefits

In a 100 g serving New Zealand spinach is exceptionally rich in vitamin K (around 240 percent daily value) and supplies meaningful vitamin C, vitamin A, vitamin B6, manganese, calcium, and iron. The plant contains oxalates - moderate levels - so brief cooking and a cold-water rinse is recommended both to improve mineral uptake and to limit oxalate intake for people prone to kidney stones.