How to grow warrigal greens in Australia

Warrigal greens are a warm-season crop, frost-tender but very heat-tolerant, filling the summer gap when other leafy greens struggle.

Tropical and subtropical (Darwin, Brisbane): Grow through the cooler, drier parts of the year as well as the warm season. In the hottest, wettest months it can get rangy, so a spring and autumn focus works well.

Warm temperate (Sydney, Perth, Adelaide): Sow from spring through summer. This is an easy, productive climate for it, and it thrives in coastal, salty gardens.

Cool temperate (Melbourne): Sow after the last frost, from October, for a summer crop. It relishes the warmth that makes true spinach bolt.

Cold (Hobart, Canberra, alpine): A summer-only crop. Start seed indoors and plant out once frost has passed, harvesting through the warm months.

Arid (Alice Springs): Very well suited to heat, but give it water and some afternoon shade in peak summer. Grow through the milder stretches for best quality.

The seed is actually a hard, knobbly fruit that germinates slowly, so soak it in water for a day before sowing to speed things up. Sow direct once the soil is warm, or start in trays and transplant. Space plants around 45cm apart, as each one sprawls widely.

Warrigal greens are not fussy about soil and tolerate poor, sandy and salty ground that defeats other vegetables, but they crop best with compost and steady moisture. Give them room to run, or plant at the edge of a bed where they can trail.

It grows happily in a large pot or trough, where its trailing habit spills attractively over the edge and is easy to keep picked. Give it a decent volume of mix and regular water.

In the ground it works as a sprawling groundcover, useful for covering awkward, hot, dry or salty spots where little else thrives. A single plant can cover a square metre or more, so place it where that spread is welcome, or keep it cut back.

Full sun to part shade both work. In hot inland gardens a little afternoon shade keeps the leaves tender, while in cooler or coastal spots it takes full sun happily.

It is genuinely drought-tolerant once established, but for the best, most tender leaf it appreciates regular water. Let it dry out and the growth toughens and slows, so mulch and water through the hottest weeks for quality picking.

Start picking about eight weeks from sowing, once plants are established. Harvest the soft growing tips and young leaves, taking the top few centimetres of each shoot, which keeps the plant branching and productive in true cut-and-come-again fashion. Regular picking is the best thing you can do for it.

Always blanch before eating. Drop the leaves into boiling water for around a minute, then drain and discard that water, which removes most of the oxalates. After that, use it anywhere you would use cooked spinach.

Warrigal greens are about as trouble-free as vegetables get. Slugs and snails may nibble young seedlings, and caterpillars occasionally graze the leaves, but established plants generally shrug off pests. The main way to spoil it is to let it dry out and toughen, or to let it sprawl into places you did not intend.

Remember the oxalate content: blanch before eating, avoid eating large amounts raw, and note that fresh young growth has been reported as toxic to grazing livestock, so keep stock off it.

As a sprawling groundcover it makes useful living mulch around taller summer crops, shading the soil and keeping it cool at the feet of sweet corn, tomatoes and the like. Give it room so it does not swamp smaller neighbours. There are no particular plants it dislikes, though its vigour means it is best kept away from low, slow seedlings it could overrun.

Warrigal greens are grown as the straight species, without named cultivars. Seed is widely available from Australian suppliers, often labelled as warrigal greens, New Zealand spinach or Botany Bay spinach, all the same plant. Once you have grown it, you can save your own seed easily from the small fruits it sets.

Do I have to blanch warrigal greens?

Yes. It contains oxalates, so blanch the leaves in boiling water for about a minute and discard that water before using it. After blanching it cooks and tastes much like English spinach.

When should I grow warrigal greens?

Through the warm months. It is heat-tolerant and thrives in summer when regular spinach bolts, so it is the perfect warm-season leafy green for most of Australia.

Why is my seed not coming up?

The seed is a hard, knobbly fruit and germinates slowly. Soak it in water for a day before sowing and be patient, as it can take a couple of weeks to appear.