Aurora Orach
Back by customer request! Heat-resistant summer greens add spectacular colors and juicy texture to salad mix, cook up like spinach, and can be harvested all season. Good drought-tolerance as well. Also known as "mountain spinach," orach actually is related to spinach, and has a similar flavor. For many years it was available in green and brownish-red strains, and got little attention. Then Frank Morton came along and started working with it as a modern salad green. He has produced strains in "red, gold, green, pink, carmine, and pure purple with Dayglow radiance." The leaves are thick and succulent, with a crystalline structure that makes the colors look like they are shining from inside the plant instead of on the surface. He refers to this multicolor mix as "mountain spinach for Merry Pranksters," and we are very glad indeed to have it back! Pledged to the Open Source Seed Initiative by farmer/breeder Frank Morton, who grew our seed. 100 seeds
Orach germinates best in cool soil, like lettuce and spinach. But the plants are resistant to heat and drought, lasting all summer for clipping after clipping of greens and providing an excellent substitute for spinach all summer. (Think lasagna and spanakopita all summer....) Like most greens, they are at their mildest and best when grown with adequate moisture and moderate temperatures. But unlike most other greens, they are very slow to bolt, and maintain their usefulness longer in heat, even after bolting. You can start cutting for the kitchen when plants are 6-8" tall, and continue using the young leaves even after they start to bolt. The seedheads are decorative and used in the cut flower trade. They also provide pollen that attracts beneficial insects like minute pirate bugs in fall--which is perfect timing for combating the infestations of sucking insects like aphids that seem to start in late summer or fall.