Good King Henry seeds

An old garden favourite

Good King Henry seeds bring a traditional European vegetable to your kitchen garden. Botanically known as Blitum bonus-henricus, this hardy perennial offers edible leaves and tender young shoots.

Unlike annual spinach, established plants return each year, making them useful for a permanent food garden. Their leafy clumps suit cottage gardens, vegetable beds and collections of unusual edible plants.

Cook the young leaves as spinach, adding them to soups, pies and vegetable dishes. Harvest tender spring shoots and prepare them like asparagus. This combination of leafy greens and seasonal shoots gives one plant several kitchen uses.

Why Good King Henry seeds are hard to find

Australian supply is scarce, and this traditional vegetable remains uncommon in mainstream seed ranges. Specialist suppliers offer it only intermittently, so availability can vary.

Germination also requires patience. Seeds can emerge slowly and unevenly, while cold treatment can improve results. These growing challenges help explain why gardeners rarely encounter established plants in ordinary nursery selections.

For those who enjoy rediscovering older food crops, Good King Henry offers something distinctive and enduring.

Growing and harvesting

Sow shallowly in seed-raising mix during cooler weather. Cold, moist stratification can help germination; keep the mix moist and allow several weeks or longer for emergence.

Choose fertile, moisture-retentive soil with good drainage. Provide sun or partial shade, with afternoon protection in warmer Australian districts. Temperate gardens generally offer the most suitable conditions.

Transplant sturdy seedlings approximately 30–45 cm apart. Mulch around plants and water during dry periods. Let plants establish during their first year, then harvest lightly from the second year.

Grow alongside our French Sorrel seeds for another perennial leafy vegetable with a long kitchen garden history.

Common names

Good King Henry, Good Henry, Lincolnshire Spinach, Lincolnshire Asparagus, Poor Man’s Asparagus, Perennial Spinach, Perennial Goosefoot, Mercury Goosefoot, English Mercury, Allgood, Markery, Mark Weed, Blite, False Mercury, Mercury, Wild Mercury, Wild Spinach, Fat-hen, Goosefoot, Flowering Dock, Friar’s Pot Herb, Roman Plant and Shoemaker’s Heels.