[mummylonglegs]

My friend and I have just taken on a plot that was well looked after (dug over once a year for 10 years) but had literally gone to seed when the owner got too old to climb the hill to the allotment and has been unused for about a year.

We have pulled up a load of milk thistle (that's what we were told it was) and it came up without needing to dig it. There are a couple of other species of plant that have gone to seed that we're not sure about but dug up (long tuberous roots) and also a quantity of spinach all over the plot that has seeded. At least, we were told this was spinach and my friend harvested some leaves and has eaten it - said it was lovely. So safe to say it is spinach, though not sure what type...

Have done a bit of internet research about spinach but nothing tells me what to do if it is seeded. There is something called 'perpetual spinach' - is this what we have? My friend wants to keep some of it because apparently it is hard to grow and this stuff looks well established. But does spinach come back year after year or is it just a one off crop? Should we dig it all up and just keep the seeds or leave the healthiest looking stuff?

[compostqueen]

seeding spinach is good for birds so you could leave them a bit and compost the rest, but eat the best of it.  Perpetual spinach is very tasty and you can let it grow again but I'd give it a good tidy up. Spinach is easily grown from seed and there are loads of varieties to choose from

Chickens love to eat spinach too