Is it safe to eat spinach I found bugs on?

[MichaelRucci]

Sorry I am new to gardening and this forum.

I went to gather spinach leaves and found little bugs under the leaves. On some leaves tons. I discarded the really bad leaves but want to know if these are safe to eat once I clean and cook them. Most of these little white bugs seem dead and can be blown right off.

Thanks so much. This is my first time posting.

[DoubleDogFarm]

Michael welcome,

Yes, I would just wash and eat. If they are inside the leaves, like leaf minors, I would cut those buggers out first.

Eric

[MichaelRucci]

I had my fingers crossed for a quick reply so we could have this with dinner tonight.

They washed right off so I figured it was ok, just wanted to double check I wasn't making a mistake. Thank you very much Eric.

[GardenRN]

I agree. I'm sure you know, bugs are just part of the deal. Heck you could probably eat most of the bugs too! lol

[MichaelRucci]

I agree. I'm sure you know, bugs are just part of the deal. Heck you could probably eat most of the bugs too! lol

Good to know. I only eat vegan so I'm going to go ahead and try not to eat too many of those bad boys. Haha.

[cynthia_h]

Hey, the bugs PROVE that you grew the spinach organically!

But it can get kind of gross, I know. What I do when I gather greens (chard, kale, spinach, bok choy, broccoli, etc.) is to soak them in a sink of warm water with a couple of dashes of salt. The warm water opens the pores of the leaves so that any soil falls into the water, and the salt makes the bugs unhappy so they leave the veggies.

Then I lift the leaves out of the water, letting the salt-infused water drain out of the sink. It's amazing, the crud that *can* be left behind sometimes, esp. if it's been raining recently. Then I run a second round of water, cool or warm, no salt, and plunge the leaves up and down a few more times. Lift leaves, let water drain, proceed with dinner preparations.

Welcome to gardening, and to this forum.

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

[DoubleDogFarm]

Hey, the bugs PROVE that you grew the spinach organically!

Really?

Cynthia's rinsing practice sounds like a good way to go. I picked up a 3 bowl stainless sink. First bowl warm salty water, second bowl maybe just warm water and the third cold rinse. I like it.

Eric

[GardenRN]

not to turn this into a "hot-to-rinse" thread. But I've always just filled the sink high with ice cold water and aggitated the floating veggies. Get's allthe dirt out...I think. Iwonder howmany bugsI've eaten??ah well.

P.S. sorry about the lack ofspace bar use. The keyboardhere atthe station stinks!

[cynthia_h]

Just give it a try for yourself, Jeff. I thought it was a bunch of hooey at first, since I had always used the normal--normal in Atlanta! where I learned to cook--method of cold rinse.

But when I read about the warm water opening up the pores (actually vacuoles) of the leaves and letting more sand/silt fall out of them, I tried it. Wow. No wonder I sometimes felt like I was eating grit, not spinach. Ptui!

Maybe you grow cleaner spinach than I can! But all I can say is, Give it a try. If you like all-cold, great; if you like the warm-then-cold, great, too!

Cynthia