A leafy green that just keeps giving — lush, glossy spinach-style leaves you can pick again and again. Unlike true spinach, it shrugs off the heat and is slow to bolt, cropping right through the warm months when others give up.
The Story
Perpetual spinach — cooked and enjoyed just like পালং শাক (palong shak) — is the answer to every gardener's spinach troubles. It is actually a leaf beet, grown for its lush green leaves, and it earns its name by cropping on and on for months from a single sowing.
Where true spinach sulks and runs to seed the moment the weather warms, perpetual spinach stays calm and productive. Genuinely heat tolerant and slow to bolt, it keeps producing tender, mild, glossy leaves through summer and beyond — exactly when you most want fresh greens and can least get them.
Cook the leaves and tender stems just as you would spinach: wilted with garlic, folded into dals and curries, stirred through pasta, or simmered into a soft shak. Easy, reliable and wonderfully generous, it is a real workhorse of the vegetable garden.
Why It Earns Its Name
Slow to bolt in the warmth
Keeps producing tender leaves through summer heat, long after true spinach has run to seed — fresh greens when they are hardest to grow.
Months from one sowing
Pick the outer leaves and the plant simply grows more. A single sowing can keep cropping for months on end — truly perpetual.
Cook it, or eat it raw
Tough, forgiving and beginner-friendly. Use young leaves raw in salads, or cook leaves and stems like spinach in countless everyday dishes.
Grower's Profile
When to Sow in Australia
One of the most adaptable greens you can grow — tolerant of both heat and cool, with a long sowing window. Sow in spring and again in late summer or autumn for harvests through much of the year. Use your local climate zone below as a guide.
| Climate Zone | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tropical Darwin, Cairns |
· | · | S | S | G | H | H | H | H | · | · | · |
| Subtropical Brisbane, N. NSW |
H | S | S | G | H | H | H | S | G | H | H | H |
| Temperate Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, ACT |
H | S | S | G | H | H | · | S | S | G | H | H |
| Arid / Semi-arid Alice Springs, Mildura, WA inland |
H | S | S | G | H | H | · | S | G | H | H | · |
| Cool / Mountain Tasmania, Highlands |
H | H | G | · | · | · | · | · | S | S | G | H |
Growing Guide
Sow seed 10–20 mm deep straight into prepared soil, or into pots and trays. Each cluster can produce a few seedlings. Germination usually takes 7–14 days.
Thin seedlings to about 20–30 cm apart so each plant has room to bush out into a generous, long-cropping clump. Grow in sun or part shade.
Keep the soil evenly moist and mulch well. Steady water and a good mulch are the secret to lush, tender leaves and even better heat tolerance through summer.
Begin picking the outer leaves from around 6–8 weeks, always leaving the centre to keep growing. Harvest regularly and the plant rewards you with more.
Remove any flower stalks that eventually appear to prolong leafy growth, and feed occasionally. A second sowing keeps fresh greens coming for much of the year.
Healthy Plants
Pale, winding tunnels and blistered patches inside the leaves — a classic beet-family pest. Pick off and bin affected leaves promptly, and protect plants with fine netting.
They love soft young seedlings, especially in damp weather. Protect emerging plants with barriers or organic pellets and clear nearby hiding spots.
Soft clusters on tender new growth. Hose them off, encourage ladybirds, or treat with a mild organic soap spray, checking leaf undersides.
Yellow patches above with greyish growth beneath in cool, damp spells. Space plants for airflow, water at the base, and remove affected leaves.
Small round spots with pale centres on older leaves. Pick off affected leaves, avoid wetting the foliage late in the day, and keep plants well spaced.
Far slower to bolt than true spinach, but it will eventually flower. Remove flower stalks as they appear, keep water steady, and re-sow to keep leaves coming.
At a Glance
| Botanical & Culinary Profile | |
|---|---|
| Common Names | Perpetual Spinach, Spinach Beet, Leaf Beet; cooked like Palong Shak (পালং শাক) |
| Botanical Name | Beta vulgaris (leaf beet group) |
| Type | Heirloom, open-pollinated — hardy, heat-tolerant leafy green |
| Key Trait | Heat tolerant and slow to bolt; true cut-and-come-again cropping |
| Seeds Per Pack | 200+ seeds, generously counted |
| Plant Height | Approx. 30–50 cm clumps |
| Sow Depth | 10–20 mm, direct sown |
| Germination | 7–14 days |
| Spacing | 20–30 cm apart |
| First Harvest | From approx. 6–8 weeks, then for months |
| Position | Full sun to part shade; moist, rich, free-draining soil |
| Uses | Cooked like spinach (shak / saag), stir-fries, dals, pasta; young leaves in salad |
| Origin | OZ grown & hand-packed in Australia by Eternity Essential Store |
In the Kitchen
Cook it like spinach. Wash well, then wilt the leaves quickly with garlic and a little oil, or fold them into dals, curries, soups and pasta. The leaves shrink down a lot, so use a generous handful.
Don't waste the stems. The pale leaf stalks are good eating too — just slice and start them a few minutes ahead of the leaves, as they take a little longer to soften.
Pick young for salads. Small, tender young leaves are mild and pleasant raw, adding fresh green body to salads and sandwiches.
Postage & Delivery
Fast dispatch in protective, moisture-resistant packaging straight to your letterbox. Combined postage on multiple seed packets — buy more and save.
Worldwide postage is available to most destinations. Delivery times vary by country and customs processing. Carefully packed to travel safely over long distances.
Every order is hand-checked and sealed in clearly labelled packets with the variety name and basic sowing notes, so you know exactly what you are planting.
It is the buyer's responsibility to check their own country's (and where relevant, their state's) import regulations, quarantine rules and biosecurity requirements before purchasing seeds.
Seeds and plant material are restricted or prohibited in some regions. Please confirm that this product can be legally imported to your location. We cannot be held responsible for items seized, destroyed or delayed by customs or quarantine authorities, and such items are not eligible for refund where loss results from local import restrictions.
By placing an order you confirm that you have checked and comply with the relevant import and biosecurity rules for your delivery address.
With 200+ seeds, you can keep sowing and keep picking — lush, heat-proof leaves for shak, salads and everyday cooking, long after ordinary spinach has bolted. Add this pack to your basket and never run short of greens.
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