I don’t like English Spinach.
Perhaps because I’m not inclined to sado-masochism.
It all starts nicely enough…
Spinach leaves shoot up from from the seed!
I harden them off until it’s time to set them free in the garden bed.
But then, their tender young leaves are bait for bugs and slugs, and they willingly submit.
The English spinach that survives the pests, falls over with the first waft of heat.
English spinach is so tiresome, if it doesn’t get water a few times a day, it pouts wilts and then grows bitter.
Then, the 1 in 100 English spinach plant that survives the bugs and heat, promptly bolts to seed when you are not paying close enough attention. It’s miserable stuff.
So, if you enjoyed 50 Shades of Grey, English Spinach is for you.
Me? English spinach is just not welcome in my garden. I just don’t need the high maintenance and drama it demands.
Thankfully, there is an alternative that is just as delicious, twice as robust and infinitely more beautiful.
It’s also not really spinach at all.
Malabar Spinach.
Or specifically, Basella alba.
Also known as Indian Spinach or Climbing Spinach, it is a tropical perennial.
Malabar Spinach and I are a perfect match.
Robust Malabar spinach embraces my sandy soils. It thrives in my constant heat, yet doesn’t mind a bit of shade. It’s valiantly resistant to pests and quickly scrambles over any ugly screen or wall that needs beautifying.
I love the Red ‘Rubra’ Malabar Spinach, the glossy green leaves contrast with the lurid red stems. A green stemmed variety is also available. When all other salad greens are vaporised by our summer heat, this sturdy plant just gets on with it and delivers bowlfuls of gorgeous greens.
Malabar Spinach is delicious and healthy.
Plus, Malabar Spinach is ridiculously good for you, containing phenolic phytochemicals and boasting antioxidant properties. Malabar Spinach is packed full of vitamin A, vitamin C, iron, calcium, soluble fibre and is high in protein per calorie. If you are sensitive to oxalic acid, avoid eating large amounts of it raw, or cook it before you eat it.
It’s young picked leaves are tender and perfect in a salad or juice. The larger leaves are succulent and are best cooked, with a slightly mucilaginous texture. Malabar spinach is perfect for thickening soups, curries and stir-frys.
My favourite way to eat Malabar spinach is stirred through my potato curry or super-spice dhal.
How to grow Malabar spinach.
Invite Malabar Spinach into your garden, and you’ll need a warm climate, sandy soil and up to 10 feet of trellis that it can ramble over.
It likes a good drink but can handle a bit of neglect if you have regular rainfall. The peppercorn-sized seeds germinate quickly. In fact, Malabar spinach will self sow so prolifically, you will want to share all your Malabar spinach love!
I have given away many seeds and seedlings to friends keen to give it a place to ramble.
If you are so inclined, pinch all the small white flowers off the plant to encourage leaf growth. Frankly, I gave up that task, simply because it would have quickly become a full-time job. However, it appears the flowers and seed don’t really do much to dent the enthusiastic nature of this lovely plant.
As long as the leaves are regularly harvested it will continue to thrive and look absolutely stunning.
The seeds are encased in a small berry fruit that stains all it touches with an assertive purple mark. For that reason alone, the kids love making “paint” with the berry fruit. The Malabar spinach berry fruit stain can also be used as a natural food colouring and is non-toxic.
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Have you ever grown Malabar Spinach? What is your favourite way to enjoy it? I would love to hear from you, please leave a comment below.
Hi Melissa,
The Perth climate is obviously much harsher than Melbourne as spinach goes nuts at my place and I really just plant it and let it go. I got so sick of a plant that had been in the ground for 2 years that I got my hubby to pull it out. I couldn’t keep up with it!
I love spinach and am sure that now you have a variety that works well for you that you will too. It is so versatile, I chuck it in loads of meals. I love the look of your spinach climber. Very nice 🙂
Thanks for dropping by Kyrstie!
The malabar spinach “trellis” is a vintage wicker bead head I found at a garage sale for $5. Bargain! So glad I don’t have to miss out on “spinach” just because not blessed with an obliging climate.
But I do keep browsing those real estate pages for cooler climate. Melbourne’s certainly a contender!
Hi! Melissa. Found your site when looking for more information on Malabar Spinach (Basella Rubra)
I’d been asked if the “berries” were edible, and I just didn’t know.So thank you for your information.
The site looks most interesting, and you are an entertaining writer. I’ll check out more pages.
Rainbow Blessings!
Thank you, and I’m thrilled you found my information useful and entertaining!
I’m not sure if the seeds are edible. But my kids are attracted to them simply for the fantastic mess they make and get covered in the purple dye that makes them look like they have been dipped in mercurochrome. They don’t get a rash or any irritation. But we have a rule in my garden which is “Don’t put it in your mouth until you ask Mummy!”
Now the weather in my part of the world is cooling, I’ll be populating the garden with more interesting bits & pieces! Stay tuned 🙂
Cheers
Melissa
Our summers are so brutal, and while i LOVE spinich, I do not grow it anymore, even over winter. Between the pests, and cold one day and, oh 26 and sunny the next near the end of winter and 7 leaves eaten by us, if that, yeah I’m over it! However, I would be interested in buying seeds from you, not for free. Can this be arranged? Will pay postage, seeds and whatever, I just want a vigorous healthy and healthful plant that can cope with the pillaging I do!
The berries are edible. They do not taste sweet like you would think anything called “berry” should. They taste like the green leaves. And they stain your fingers like the dickens. I haven’t really found any recipes for them yet, but I’m searching.
thanks for the info on this climbing spinach,I live in Australia &no one has heard about them that I spoke to so bought one&planted it up against my fence where it has taken off,we get very little rain in this area &I has a small clump at the bottom but one long tendrill with leaves&berries,wasn’t sure how to cook the leaves or what to do with berries so have just put the leaves in a pot to cook&the berries back into the soil,so will have to wait&see what happens,thanks for the info
Stratco garden are selling them
I bought some seeds at Bunnings and thought they were expensive 10 for $3.50 I think. Just wanted to see how it grew here in Wollongong. It did OK but wasn’t sure how to use it. Now I’ve read some ideas will grow it again. My vines are covered in seeds – do I just pick and dry them and plant again and give the excess away?
Hi, just came across your site when searching for info about whether malabar spinach would make a good fabric dye. It grows like mad in my Melbourne garden and we eat it in salads and as a cooked vegetable.
Did it stain your children’s clothes? And did the stain wash out?
I was oing to add your interesting -looking blog to my Feedly, so I could keep up with what you’re writing, but I don’t see any posts that are recent. Are you intending to add more? I’d love to read more of your thoughts and experiences.
Hi Catherine,
Thanks for stopping by. Yes, the malabar spinach berries did stain! I researched beetroot stain removal, and started by flushing most of it out with cold water and soaking it overnight in an enzyme solution before washing as normal. Then drying on the line in full sun seemed to get rid of the last of the stain. I have read that applying lemon juice works before rinsing, but I haven’t tried that.
Yes, relaunching site on Monday 20th April and will be publishing to a regular schedule. Thank you for the encouragement Catherine 🙂
Just started growing it on Texas. I have been asked by the nursery, if the flowery pods and such are edible.?
As I was told it was part of the nightshade family
And as we know only certain parts are edible. They look ad if they would be a good thing in stir fry etc.
I just want an absolute answer on exactly what parts can be eaten.
Many blessings, and thank u for ur help
Hmmn, I wonder if we are speaking about the same plant? The Malabar spinach that I grow is Basella alba, not a Solanaceae or member of the nightshades family at all. I don’t have pods as such, but I would stick to eating just the leaves. The smaller ones are most tasty in salads, the larger ones are slimier in texture but good cooked in a curry. I steer clear of the purple berries and flowers, but I can’t find any evidence that they are poisonous. You would have a very purple stained mouth and teeth if you ate the berries!
I hope this helps. If you are in the warmer spots of Texas it should grow as rampantly as a weed! Enjoy!
Melissa I would hesitate to eat any leaves of the Solanum group, they are known for their tubers ( potatoes) & fruit only as in tomatoes, capsicums, chilli, & eggplants etc. Even the tomato like fruit of the potato is poisonous!
Malabar spinach has made itself at home in our garden in FNQ for the past several years after bringing home a few seeds from a friend’s place. Despite neglect at times it can be found thriving all over our garden. We’ve even had to pull out great clumps that were strangling other plants and shrubs! We use the smaller leaves in salad, but the bigger leaves are delicious in omelettes. I harvest them, wash them, stack them one on top of the other, then cut out all the sappy stems in one go. I find the mucousy texture a bit off putting, so shred them and give the shredded leaves a rinse before cooking.
I love malabar spinach! Thanks for the rinsing tip Kathy. My malabar spinach has been dormant over our chilly months, but is on the move again now it’s heating up. It’s going to be 31 in Perth today! I think we are going to be in for a hot summer…
hello melissa, i’m yetunde a Nigerian and i stumbled upon your website while googling to know if malabar spinach seeds have any benefit aside the obvious one of planting. I’ve being eating m.s ever since i can remember and i just got to know its name today. Locally, we call it amunututu which literally means ‘the leaf that soothes the stomach’. Just wanted to say thanks for saying such good words for a veg i love. Still searching for the benefits of its seeds.
🙂
This guy John and many of the commenters say the ‘fruits’ are edible. John responded in detail to the second commenter about his experiments with the ‘fruits’. John doesn’t cook his food, so he eats them raw. Actually, it wasn’t clear to me if he eats the seeds or only the juice. It’s common to India and Sri Lanka, so if you know where to find these people, ask them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Gl2HjFt0IU
🙂
Thanks for that link Troy. I’m still going to give them a miss, I have seen how much they stain my hands, I would be worried they would turn my mouth and teeth a lurid shade of purple for days on end!
But since they may not be toxic, you’ve given me an idea… using the berries as a food dye. I’ll begin experimenting and keep you posted.
In searching for Malabar Spinach I found your site. I’ve grown it in the summer in NE USA and winter over inside if possible.
I love the look of it, use it instead of lettuce as it holds up ever so much better. Delicious,healthy.
Now living in s.w.Fl I hope to have it become like a natural Carport, it might take awhile but will be so worth it. As right now, my car almost becomes an oven without shade. It should be interesting and healthy at the same time. Just not sure if the brutal heat will be too much for it?
Would love to hear from anyone re this idea?
Hey Linda, I love Malabar spinach too. I checked the summer weather in SW Florida and yes, I think Malabar spinach will thrive in that temp. If you wanted something faster-growing to cover your carport, have your thought about passionfruit? The flowers leaves and fruit are all useful and it would grow fast and cover your carport in no time!
Cheers
Melissa