MALABAR spinach is a very useful crop for growing under cover, and is worth trying outdoors in milder areas, sheltered gardens, or warm summers. 

It’ll also grow in patio tubs larger than about 12 inches (30cm) diameter, since most of its growth is upwards, not outwards. 

A substantial and highly productive cooked greens, which doubles as a spicy salad leaf, it’s most widely used in India.

You’ll find the seeds for sale in several catalogues (for instance Dobies tel: 0344 967 0303; www.dobies.co.uk), listed as Malabar spinach, Indian spinach, Ceylon spinach or Climbing spinach. Its botanical name is usually given as Basella alba, but occasionally as Basella rubra.

The seeds can be sown any time in spring, bearing in mind that, while this plant is a perennial in its native range, it won’t tolerate any frost. 

So the date of sowing depends on where you’ll be growing it, and when you expect your last frost.

Before sowing, put the seeds in warm water and leave for 24 hours. This helps to trigger their germination. 

Then sow one seed per small pot, in any peat-free compost, and leave the pots somewhere warm. 

An electric propagator will speed things up, if you’ve got access to one, but a warm windowsill will get you there in the end.

When the plants are well established in their pots, and you’re confident they won’t get frosted, plant them into the richest piece of ground you can find. 

Malabar spinach will tolerate any soil that isn’t waterlogged, but will crop heavily in fertile, moist earth.

In a heated greenhouse or in a conservatory this plant will grow like crazy. In an unheated greenhouse it’ll do well; in a plastic or glass mini-greenhouse or low tunnel it will be less vigorous but still worthwhile. 

If you grow it unprotected in the open ground, you’re dependent on luck to some extent. 

I’ve known people in various parts of the country get excellent outdoor crops, though it’s never worked for me.

Malabar spinach is rarely troubled by pests or diseases, and it out-competes weeds quite easily. 

Your main job is to keep it well watered throughout the summer. It will grow visibly and dramatically following a good soaking, especially after a dry period.

Red and green types are available. The red is strikingly attractive, with red stems and green heart-shaped leaves, glossy and fleshy, many of them as large as the palm of my hand. 

They dry superbly, in a food dehydrator or a cool oven, for winter use. 

Malabar spinach is a handsome climbing plant, so can easily be grown in an ornamental garden. 

In late summer or early autumn it produces numerous tiny sprays of rather pretty flowers, but the leaf flavour deteriorates once the flowers appear.

Like most vegetables with “spinach” in their names, this one is unrelated to true spinach. 

However, it can be used in precisely the same ways. It has a slightly earthy flavour like leaf beet or Swiss chard, with a hint of lemon.

Mat Coward’s latest book is Eat Your Front Garden (Prospect Books, £12.99).