Not A Rockachaw!

   Back on the old farm place, Pop planted a lot of different crops but there were some that I never recall being something in the fields.  Cauliflower, broccoli, beets and spinach were always bought and never grown.  Since the farm was a working business, he planted what was in demand at the marketplace.  Obviously, there was not much demand for these items so they were not planted in mass quantity like the other crops.  I, on the other hand, have a small garden that is for personal use so planting what is in "demand" only relates to what I wish to eat and it is on a small scale.  I love any type of vegetable so have a smattering of a lot of different things.  This winter, I planted each of the aforementioned things along with other greens.  Everything did exceedingly well!  So well, in fact, we just could not eat everything nor could I give it away.  That said, a lot of the winter crops have been left to "go to seed".

 

  When the spinach bolted, I had little idea of what to expect.  I figured that...well, they are greens so they would shoot up the stalk with bright yellow or white flowers which would turn to tiny bean-like pods.  Nope.  Spinach has its own mind about how to make seeds and it is unlike any other plant in the garden.  The normally short leafy plant does indeed send up a tall stalk but that stalk continues to make the lovely leaves that we eat.  Once it reaches about two feet in height, where a leaf has branched from the main stalk, weird, fluffy blooms are set.  The blooms actually look mightily like rockachaws which, for those not from down here, is a sandbur with a name derived from an old Choctaw word meaning "devil grass".  As a barefoot kid, I had my share of stepping on the painful things.  The spinach blooms, however, are not painful, thankfully.  The petals are very soft to the touch.  

  I will have to keep watch on the remaining spinach plants so the seeds can be harvested.  Given the rate we eat spinach, it will be nice to have extra seeds on hand for this next winter.  Hopefully, next year's garden will be as productive as this year's.