I love Malabar spinach, and when I first got seeds for it several years ago, it was a mystery. I planted them, and maybe 5% germinated. Something was wrong. Took a year or two to understand that the seeds are firmly encased in a protective shell. Without violent scarification, nothing will happen quickly.

The answer comes from the plant itself. It produces a humungous number of seeds in the fall. These drop, and many bury themselves in the soil. Many months later, when the soil is warm (my soil temp just cracked 70F), these seeds germinate. The deal is that Malabar spinach seeds NEED to be buried for a few months before they'll even try to germinate. Although I routinely have them in the same bed year after year, I'd rather not depend on self-seeding, so I collect seeds in the fall, and plant a bunch in a more organized way at the beginning of the year. Nothing happens for a long time. But when the seed coating has degraded, and the soil is warmed up, they know that it's time to bust out.

The instructions that I originally got with the seed never explained any of this. But for these guys, you NEVER have to buy seeds a second time. One planting, and you're good forever. At the least because they're largely invasive, but also because they produce vastly more seeds than you'd ever need.