Organic Vegetable Garden (OVG), June 21st:
Last summer we grew Malabar spinach for the first time. Malabar (also known as Indian spinach, Ceylon spinach, basella, or vine spinach) is not really spinach, but it has a similar taste and its leaves can be eaten both cooked and raw. We found that Malabar was one of the few plants in our garden that thrived in August when the temperatures soared. Another benefit of growing Malabar is that the plant is very pretty. The vines can reach 6 feet or more and should be trained on a trellis or other structure. Full sun is best but the plants can tolerate some shade. While it might be a little late to start Malabar this year (or maybe not), consider growing this bountiful producer in the future.