I did two separate soil tests and came up with very low nitrogen on both. Both tests were off the shelf admittedly but I figured once could be an anomaly but twice should be at least an indicator. A clerk at the garden store told me low nitrogen is not uncommon for where we live.

The cow manure (Black Kow) and bloodmeal came from my local garden store packaged. I mixed both in to my soil in quantities according to the package instructions. My compost in my bin is not yet ready -- it's been colder than usual this winter and spring here so that's why I bought the manure and bloodmeal.

I don't remember the seed brand name. The store I got them from has been around for decades so I can't imagine all the seeds were bad.

In addition... What's the soil temperature? Did it rain? If not did you water?

Soil temp is "cool" but I have not measured it. It has rained normally for this time of year. I have watered when the top half inch or so felt dry.

Well, Black Kow is *composted* cow manure, which makes a big difference. And if you followed instructions with the bloodmeal, you should be good to go. At 50F soil temp, germination should be three weeks. I've heard of a lot of spinach germination failures. Might have been smart to keep the soil thoroughly moist until germination.

In our area a cute bird called a California Quail will snip off every spinach cotyledon the moment it can be seen by the bird's keen eye. If one did not know what was happening one would swear that no spinach germinated. We always cover ours with a cheap netting after planting.

Spinach is tricky especially with spring planting. It does take longer to germinate in cool soil. Black Cow and blood meal should pose no problems. Consistent moisture can be a problem, I second row covers to alleviate that problem. I some times have a poor stand due to Phytophthora which may affect stretches of the row while other stretches have a good stand.