So what's up with spinach anyway?

[Al from Rochester]

For most of the year, the only kind of spinach in the stores is "Baby Spinach", which might be okay for salads if you like that kind of thing, but I like to cook up a pot of real spinach and real spinach is getting harder and harder to find.

Does anyone know what is causing this and maybe what to do about it?

Thanks

Al

[Zeldaz]

You can catch bundles of mature spinach in the supermarket sometimes. You could also try an Asian market. If all else fails, it's really easy to grow.
Spinach grows very fast in cool weather, but by harvesting it at the smaller stage they can have a second cutting in a couple of weeks, or just take it all out and get another, more heat-tolerant crop in quickly. Also, there's no waste with baby spinach, as the stems are slender and tender, but mature spinach has tougher stems which most people remove.

[DrGaellon]

Al from Rochester wrote:
Does anyone know what is causing this and maybe what to do about it?

Demand. Most people aren't interested in regular spinach, especially now when it's out of season, or if they are, they buy it frozen. Try a farmer's market in the spring and summer when spinach is in season.

[duonyte]

I go to large independent grocers that have very large produce sections and they have regular spinach available. I prefer it as the flavor is better. Also, I keep frozen chopped spinach in the freezer - it is very handy in a lot of recipes and it is from mature leaves, as far as I can tell.