[Anton]

My New Zealand spinach always looks very bedraggled after the winter, so I have always dug them up and sown fresh ones, starting them off in pots, but a friend tells me that when he had them in his garden they used to recover and grow back after the winter. Has anybody else had this experience?
I know that leafbeet will recover, although they eventually bolt and don't seems as crisp as tasty as freshly sown ones!

Anton

[mumofstig]

They are perennial but often die off in a hard frost - if you leave them to flower they often self-seed themselves, though.

[Anton]

Thanks for your prompt reply. Well yes, they are usually blackish looking after a severe frost but this winter has been quite mild so they are yellow and forlorn-looking! Should I leave them in the ground do you think?

Anton

[mumofstig]

Why not leave a small patch to see what happens? Nothing much lost if it doesn't regrow?

If it works, then next year you could throw a fleece over some to make sure

[Anton]

Thanks, that's a good idea.

Anton