Tyee Spinach

Tyee is the long-standing benchmark semi-savoy spinach, a fast-growing F1 hybrid with thick dark green leaves that are slightly rumpled, upright, and clean of soil splash. Bred for resistance to bolting in summer heat and downy mildew races 1 and 3, it is a reliable workhorse for both spring and fall cropping and is widely recommended by cooperative extension programs for home gardens.

✅ Plant alongside

Good neighbors that attract beneficial insects or deter pests

• Strawberry — Shares cool conditions and even moisture; spinach roots tap nutrients at a different depth
• Cabbage — Spinach makes use of the cool early season under taller brassicas before they shade the bed
• Pea — Peas add nitrogen to the soil that spinach, a heavy nitrogen feeder, can use
• Radish — Fast-growing radishes break up surface soil and are harvested before spinach needs the room

🛡️ Pest & disease prevention

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

• Leaf miners →

  Cover seedlings with floating row cover before the flies arrive in spring; squash visible larval tunnels by hand

• Aphids →

  Hose off colonies and let ladybugs build up; aphids worsen if plants are stressed by drought

• Slugs and snails →

  Set traps or grit barriers in the cool damp of early spring and fall, when slugs hit spinach hardest

• Downy mildew →

  Choose downy-mildew-resistant varieties like Tyee, give plants airflow, and water at the base in the morning

🌾 Harvest & storage

Begin pinching outer leaves once plants have 5 or 6 full leaves, about 25 to 32 days for baby leaf or 40 to 45 days for full size. Cut-and-come-again works well: take outer leaves and leave the center crown to keep producing. Once a center stalk starts to elongate the plant is bolting and the leaves will turn bitter - harvest the whole plant at that point.

🥗 Nutrition & benefits

Spinach is one of the most nutrient-dense vegetables, very rich in vitamin K (about 483 mcg per 100 g raw, well above a full daily value), folate, vitamin A, vitamin C, manganese, and magnesium. Iron levels are real but absorption is limited by the spinach oxalate content; pair raw spinach with a vitamin C source like lemon or pepper for better uptake, or cook to break down oxalates.