Perpetual Spinach
Perpetual Spinach is quite a big plant for a patio, but it copes well with the rigours of life in a container. It'll keep producing succulent and tasty leaves for you for up to a year at a stretch. Use it just as you would regular spinach.
Twist off the outer leaves as you need them. The plant will carry on growing, producing more leaves.
Time from seed to plate: 12 weeks
Sowing Calendar
Sow
Sow anytime from April to July. Fill a grow bed with multipurpose compost and smooth it out with your hands or a trowel. Then make a shallow groove with a finger about 1cm deep where you're going to sow the seeds, using a piece of wood as a guide if you want nice straight rows.
Sprinkle the seed into the groove, about one every 2cm and cover with a thin layer of compost. Water well and label.
Grow
Pull out the weaker seedlings to leave 20cm between each plant. These are big plants and they need space to grow.
Harvest
As soon as your plants are 5-6in inches tall you can chop baby leaves off for salads. Make sure you leave 2in of plant behind, and it will quickly resprout with new leaves.
Once the plants are established - 12-18in tall - pick by twisting/cutting leaves off from around the stem. The heart will keep growing upwards for months to come, even through the winter in milder areas.