The Winter Garden

Aphids

      picture of an aphid

In March, aphids begin to appear in the winter garden. Aphids are small sap-sucking insects, and they lay eggs on the hidden under sides of the spinach leaves. In March, they begin to hatch. They do no damage in the winter garden to the spinach leaves. The plants are growing so quickly and the harvesting is going along so heavily, that aphids don't get a chance to damage any plants.

However, small, crawling insects are not very appetizing in a salad or on leaves placed in a sandwich. I control aphids after the leaves have been harvested as I'm getting ready to eat the spinach. Here are two strategies, one simple, one more complicated. First the simple one:

Rinse each leaf under a stream of warm water in the kitchen sink. Pay special attention to the underside of the leaves. That's where aphids hide, especially in the folds and groves of leaves.

If rinsing fails to remove the aphids, I'll wash the leaves. I fill a sink part way with warm water and add a little dish washing detergent, mixing it well. Then I place the spinach leaves I intend to eat in the solution and let it sit for 10 minutes. Next, I vigorously shake the leaves in the soapy water, shake off the soapy water, and place the leaves in an adjacent sink that I have filled with cool, clear water. I give the leaves a few minutes in the cool water bath, and then I shake off the water and set the leaves aside to be inspected and trimmed of their stems.

I have not found the soap to diminish the flavor of the spinach. Indeed, the soapy bath brings out the rich green color of the leaves and makes them even more appealing.

      picture of washed spinach ready to eat

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Photo credit (aphid): By Claudio Gratton, University of Wisconsin - http://www.planthealth.info/images/high_res/aphid_oneil_highres.jpg, Attribution, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5882415
Photo credit (aphid): By Shipher Wu (photograph) and Gee-way Lin (aphid provision), National Taiwan University - PLoS Biology, February 2010 direct link to the image description, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9590073