Spinach Tyme Author:Lenexa Historical Society A cookbook of spinach recipes compiled by volunteers from the Lenexa Historical Society. Spinach was grown in the Lenexa-Shawnee area of Kansas in the 1930's due to drought conditions. Farmers could grow more spinach plants per acre than traditional lettuce, carrots, cabbage, etc. Belgian immigrant farmers cut spinach on hands and knees in the ... more »cold fall of the year, sometimes with ice on the plants. Everyone worked in the fields: men, women, children. "If you're big enough to eat, you're big enough to work," was what the Belgians said. The demand for their "sand-less" spinach was such that a railroad and depot was built in Lenexa. Carloads of spinach were shipped to NY, Chicago, and Baltimore. Eastern canneries designated Lenexa the "Spinach Capitol of the World." The cookbook contains a newspaper cartoon showing Popeye driving away from Lenexa, Kansas with a truckload!« less