Word of the Week: Bolting

Do you ever wonder why it becomes increasingly difficult to bring spinach, lettuce and other crops to the market during mid-summer months? The answer is that certain crops bolt. Bolting is the premature production of flowering stems or seed-producing plant parts that diverts energy away from the edible leafy greens. After bolting occurs, the plant is normally too tough, woody and bitter to be edible. Bolting is a survival mechanism for the plant as it senses the weather heating up to a temperature above survival. It tries to produce seeds for the next generation as soon as possible.