Q&A: Extra Spinach

A: Fortunately, spinach can tolerate temperatures in the 20s, and if you plant in late summer or early fall, you can extend the harvest by covering your plants with blankets, clear plastic or some kind of floating row cover. These methods should buy you three to five degrees of frost protection. Paul James prefers to cover spinach with leaves, straw or both. He thinks you get more protection against the cold that way, and the leaves and straw will also break down to fertilize the soil. He has harvested spinach this way when temperatures dip into the teens.