Burns Best Farm

Thoughts on the Spinach Contamination

Here are my Random Thoughts on the nationwide spinach contamination situation:

First, according to this AP article from earlier today, the farms that are thought to be the source of the e.coli are not organic farms.  My husband and I had a bit of a running wager that the source would be an imported product, most likely organic (the e.coli coming from manure that had been improperly handled before being added to compost.)  The farms under investigation are all in California and there's a special note in the article pointing out that the contaminated spinach was conventionally grown.  Interesting.

Second, all this talk about no fresh spinach has me thinking about the spinach we grew last spring at the farm.  Here's a link to Johnny's Selected Seeds "Space" variety we used.  Note the price of the packets, and then think back to the last time you bought a bag of fresh baby spinach at the grocery store.  Note that the smallest packet of seeds contains 385 seeds, and that the maturity date for the plant is a whopping 39 days!  Now, think about a spot in your yard where you can scratch up a couple of square feet of soil and plant these seeds......and think about the spinach you'll have by Halloween that you grew yourself, without any e.coli contamination whatsoever. Hmmm.....sounds like a plan.

BTW, this is the time of year to plant spinach.  Coolish weather and all.  I hadn't planned on planting any this fall for reasons too extensive to go into here, but now that I can't buy it at the store safely, I am reconsidering and might sow some leftover seeds on Saturday.

Which brings me to my third point:  when I am told by people in positions of authority that I can't have something, I want it really, really bad all the more!  So I'm craving spinach dishes. Look for a post later today with my most favorite frozen spinach recipe in it.  It's a crock-pot meal, which makes it indespensable! 

Untitled Comment

10:20, 2006-Sep-21 .. Posted by southernbelle

Wonderful post! Thanks for the information. You've definitely got me thinking about planting some too.