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Spinach is one of the healthiest
vegetables available.
This tasty green is rich in
vitamins and minerals.
Ann Bushman gets an early start
on her crop and has a harvest
sometimes even before the last
snow has melted.
Ann Bushman: Spinach I have
Bloomsdale and I have New
Zealand.
Bloomsdale is more just leafy.
It's a short variety.
It's more of a cold tolerant
spinach.
So as it heats up as it is now
its lifespan is a little bit
short.
And if it gets too hot it just
wants to go to seed and bolt.
So you probably want to start
planting March through April.
We did plant recently here in
May but we did the New Zealand
variety.
The New Zealand variety is more
of a flat-leafed spinach.
Flat leaf is a lot easier to
clean, it's more upright, it's
not as close to the ground and
it seems to be a little more
heat tolerant.
Probably by the end of June
you're probably done with the
spinach.
It'll get too hot then and it
will bolt also.
And it will also get bitter.
But don't panic, spinach offers
a second season to satisfy the
appetite of your inner Popeye.
Bushman: Probably by the end of
August you can start planting
spinach again and get into
October, November, December.
Spinach is just one part of
Annie's Gardens and Greens.
What began as an herb and
vegetable plant business has
blossomed into a trio of
ventures aimed at providing farm
fresh products to northeastern
Iowans.
Bushman: I sold the vegetable
plants and herb plants and I'd
have excess plants so I would
grow gardens with them.
And then the produce I'd have
for sale.
The roadside stand was probably
something that just happened
because I really didn't have a
place to market it.
We would just, it would be here.
The CSA's, that one just kind of
started really small.
Vicki Rowland: I think Annie's
been delivering to my door for
about three years.
Annie does a wonderful job for
people for the opportunity to
get fresh vegetables.
Bushman: And then as we've
grown, the need for the green
grocery came up.
A building came up in Calmar and
it was a small space.
I didn't need anything huge.
It's supposed to be like a fresh
farmer's market year round of
produce.
Sue Gavle: People love fresh
produce and people are eager to
get it and we carry a limited
supply so what's here is here
until we can get more grown in
the garden.
Ann is not the only gardener in
the family.
Her husband has recently started
his own green initiative.
Bushman: We have a trucking
business and there's lots of
tires that go with that.
My husband, Steve, got excited
about gardening and we started
this tomato garden and instead
of putting the seeds or plants
in the cement we actually
started putting them in the
tires that have retired.
There's also cucumbers down
there, honeydew melons,
watermelon and we're going to
try pole beans this year which
is something different.
So they'll be a part of the CSA
and the roadside stand however
much they produce.
Ann and her staff are quick to
pass along gardening hints and
nutrition information to curious
customers.
Bushman: And then we try to
educate the kids if they come
out here on how to grow
vegetables and hopefully when
they harvest them to see what
they have accomplished.
They're surprised where it comes
from, how it grows whether it's
in the ground, above ground, in
pods or whatever because they
see it on the shelf.