Orach

Atriplex hortensis

vegetable

Orach (Atriplex hortensis), also called mountain spinach or French spinach, is an old-world leafy green grown long before modern spinach and valued for one big advantage: it takes summer heat without bolting nearly as fast, extending the fresh-greens season when spinach has long since given up. It grows as a tall, upright annual - reaching 4 to 6 ft if left to flower - with arrow-shaped leaves in striking green, gold, or deep red-purple forms that are as ornamental as they are edible. The mild, slightly salty, spinach-like leaves are used raw young or cooked like spinach, and the red types add vivid color to salads.

✅ Plant alongside

Good neighbors that attract beneficial insects or deter pests

• Provider Bush Bean: Fixes nitrogen that fuels orach's leafy growth while occupying a lower layer
• English Shelling Pea: An early cool-season companion that shares the spring bed before orach gets tall
• Green Leaf Lettuce: Another quick salad green; pair the two for a mix of textures and colors in the cool season

🛡️ Pest & disease prevention

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

• Flea beetles →

  Can pepper young leaves with holes - use floating row cover on seedlings and keep plants growing fast

• Aphids →

  Hose colonies off the leaves and stems and support ladybugs and lacewings

• Leaf miners →

  Remove and destroy leaves with the telltale winding tunnels and use row cover to block the egg-laying flies, as orach is related to spinach and chard that miners favor

🌾 Harvest & storage

Begin harvesting orach young, picking individual leaves or snipping whole stems for cut-and-come-again once plants are several inches tall. Take the tender top leaves and growing tips, which also keeps the plant bushy and delays bolting; older lower leaves get tougher and are best cooked. Use the colorful young leaves raw in salads for a mild, slightly salty flavor and dramatic color (the red holds better cooked than beet greens), or cook the larger leaves exactly like spinach. Harvest regularly through the warm months for a steady supply.

🥗 Nutrition & benefits

Orach is a nutritious leafy green, providing vitamins A and C, iron, fiber, and protein much like spinach, with a mild, slightly salty flavor and no oxalic bitterness in the young leaves. It is eaten raw in salads when young or cooked like spinach when larger, and the red and gold forms bring unusual color to the plate. Its real value to the gardener is filling the summer greens gap when spinach bolts in the heat.