10/03/2026
It might be a cool, rainy day here in Loudoun County, and the traditional gardening season may be winding down, but we’re not quite finished yet!
Here in USDA Zone 7a, early October still gives us an opportunity to direct-sow spinach.
Spinach loves cool weather, and fall-grown spinach can produce wonderfully tender, flavorful leaves. A few tips for getting it established:
* Direct sow seeds about ½ inch deep and roughly 2 inches apart, then thin seedlings to about 4–6 inches apart as they grow.
* Choose a spot with full sun to partial shade and well-drained soil enriched with compost.
* Keep the soil consistently moist while seeds germinate and seedlings become established.
* A light layer of straw or other clean mulch can help protect young plants as colder weather arrives.
* Harvest individual outer leaves as needed, or allow plants to mature for larger harvests. Spinach is quite cold-hardy, and established plants can tolerate frost.
Have a cold frame? You might be able to plant more. A cold frame creates a protected microclimate that can effectively give you conditions similar to a warmer growing zone. That means you can experiment with some crops whose normal outdoor planting window has already passed including crops shown for Zone 7b - 8a such as lettuce, baby salad greens, mustard, radishes, and more spinach.
Just remember that a cold frame still needs some attention: vent it on sunny or unexpectedly warm days, close it before temperatures drop in the evening, and keep in mind that growth becomes much slower as our daylight hours decrease.
October can still be a productive month in the Loudoun garden, so get those salad bowls ready!
