It wouldn't affect the canning guidelines but the quality might be questionable. I've never grown it but one trick might be to trim out the stems like one does with chard and some of the kales to reduce the mucus. It sure makes a difference in the quality when canning them.

Dave

I would never dream of canning a leafy vegetable; even commercially canned spinach is pretty disgusting. Freeze leafy vegetables.

Like so many things it's just a matter of personal taste. Many of us grew up eating canned spinach, canned turnip greens, canned mixed greens, etc. Hot canned spinach with a dab of butter and some S&P can be quite tasty. Add some diced onions and bacon to canned mixed greens - yumm.

Dave

I agree that onions, bacon, and greens were meant for each other. I tend to cook my greens for a while, so I'm not sure that at the time I put them on a plate there is a lot of difference between canned and frozen, for greens anyway.

I do use the frozen chopped spinach for a particular dish that I often eat as a side to curry, which is the chopped spinach cooked briefly, drained and then S&P and cream cheese added.

I'll do a test drive early on using leaves only no stems and check out the quality of the canned, there's no use deciding now because I've never grown this green so I have to 1) like it in the first place and 2) get it canned without it turning into a slimy mess.

Lucille, I also cook greens for "a while", and so canning them makes little difference to me. I like them that way, and I can kale, collards and/or swiss chard pretty much every year. I usually eat the beet greens way before they ever make it to a jar, they're my favorite, and spinach mostly gets eaten raw. Fresh greens usually get cooked with a smoked pork hock, but bacon or a leftover ham bone will do too. I do like greens.

Good luck on that spinach, and happy canning.

Annie