Anyone out there interested in growing Asian varieties of vegetables?
My wife is Chinese (Cantonese from HongKong) and I have been growing veggies for her kitchen for over 30 years. There is such diversity & wonderful flavors in Asian veggies that I wish others would give them a try & perhaps become "hooked" on them as I have. They are very nutritious. Let us hear from you & your experiences with Asian veggies!!
LarryD
ASIAN VARIETIES
ME!! I love Asian veggies and I've grown bok choy and mizuna (though I'm not sure that qualifies). Also tried Chinese mustard but the birds ate it. I would love to hear more about what you grow and how. And how about a recipe or two for a little-known veggie that you grow? I'm game and I'll bet some others will chime in here, too!
I'm growing Cambodian Green Eggplant this year. Got high hopes for it.
hey.....good response!! That's GREAT!!! I'm growing Mei-Quing Choi, Joi Choi and Michili this season. Also have Japanese Red Mustard & Gai-Lon ( Tendergreen mustard) growing. Have planted Hin Choi (also known as Amaranth) and have Chinese Fuzzy Melon (known in Cantonese as Mao Gwa, or Jit Gwa) --- a squash. Got a "late" start since me & "the Missus" (my wife from Hong Kong) recently moved to this Adult Retirement Community & the garden was being improved & enlarged. I am now on the gardening committee & we spent early April getting the planting lots roto-tilled/outlined & pathways established with "Weedblocker plastic" & covered with mulchLots of work but It NOW looks like a REAL suburban garden that WE can be proud of!! We have about 90 gardeners & the entire garden measures 110 ft. X 110 ft. and is fenced in to guard against varmints & deer. There are Perennial Beds, vegetable beds & mixed beds of veggies & ornamentals. It's all so neatly edged & really a pleasant place to sit on our garden benches under umbrellas or just wander amongst the pathways. We have 3 Tool sheds complete with all the power Tillers & garden tools we need & two watering stations with plenty of hoses to water the entire area. Composted horse manure... 1 or 2 years old is delivered as needed. I feel SO fortunate to be here for the rest of my life! It's named Shannondell @ ValleyForge. The management here is SO very supportive of our efforts!!!
LarryD
Wow! Sounds like a dream come true.
All I'm doing extra this year is the eggplant. Got all I can say grace over with the normal tomatoes, cowpeas and peppers. (broke both ankles in a car accident this winter and am still not 100%)
Mel.... sorry ABOUT YOUR MISFORTUNE, BUT HOPE LIFE IS LOOKING up FOR YOU!!! I don't have any eggplant this year; although I have raised it in the past. Some gardeners here have Ichiban Eggplant growing & it does quite well. I grew it a few years back & believe it to be one of the best Asian eggplants to try.
Ldd
Melody, I'm sorry to hear of your accident. I hope you're healing well. Can you tell me where you got the Cambodian Green Eggplant? I'd love to try one. I'm not having very good luck with eggplants this year. One bloomed a bunch but all the blooms dried up and fell off, leaving no fruit. I just saw one little Ichiban on another plant so I'm hoping that one will produce more.
Cottonpicker, that place sounds wonderful. Had to be some genius that envisioned the garden and knew how great it would be for people living there. Can you post some pictures of your plants? I don't know any of them, where to get them or how to grow them. Can you describe them for us?
I think it's too late for me to plant any greens since our temperatures are not likely to drop into the 80's or 90's again for several months. I'd like to grow a fall crop.
I tried dwarf pak choi (toy choi) and it is already mature and ready to pick. I'm going to try some tonight!
BB, long time no see LOL.
I would love to hear how you cook them or what you do with some of them. Im really trying to grow what we will eat this next season, not what is just fun and new. With only so much space, and high prices along with no selection to speak of at the grocery. I want to grow things we WILL eat. For some reason, I tend to like to grow the things I dont even eat, and give it away. Fun to watch it mature.
Lets just say, that 'movie' is over for awhile.
I'm really getting "into" the asian veggies after a trip to Hawaii this spring. It really got me motivated!!!!
Correction to my first post. I am growing Cambodian Giant Green Eggplant. (I got confused.) I'm also growing Ping Tung, which is the long thin one. It is from Thailand and is supposed to be purple. My eggplant seeds came from Baker Creek Heirlooms.
http://rareseeds.com/seeds/
We have never eaten much eggplant here at our house either, but I'm determined to expand our horizons. (even if I have to hide it in something)
Couple of years ago I grew Japanese eggplant along with bitter mellon. I think I started them too late in the season since I didn't get any veggies from them. This year I started Japanese sweet cherry tomatos in the EB. Hopefully it will do well.
mimi
I have also grown PingTung eggplant (actually named after a city in Taiwan). I prefer Ichiban. A good source for Asian vegetable seed is Evergreen Seeds. Take a peek at their website. It offers good descriptions & photos of the varieties and is a good reference source.
I agree with you about the Ping Tung vs Ichiban. Do you grow Edamame also?
I ordered some edamame seeds, havent got them planted. I love them. I never see anyone who seems to grow them. It seems like they would be easy, like a cowpea. Its my first try.
They are easy to grow and to pick! I pull the whole plant and sit and pull the pods off as they all ripen at the same time. Blanch and freeze. I have had some flea beetle problems when the plants are young but nothing like eggplant.
I've grown bok choy, pak choy, and am now trying toy choi. I love to make my own kim chee. I want to try the Ichiban eggplant next year.
Karen
Have not grown Edamame but we do enjoy them & buy them from Trader Joe's.
Whatcha waitin' for Larry? Stick some seeds into the ground. Tomato tasting picnic is August 16th this year, still in Baltimore. hint hint
Toy choi cooking last night.
Dinner: butter beans and toy choi
Mimi, what is a Japanese cherry tomato? I'm intrigued and I can't find anything by googling it.
Cottonpicker, you sure started an interesting thread. I still want to see pictures!
Edited to say that sure looks like a delicious meal, BB!
This message was edited May 28, 2008 9:20 AM
tomatofreak...pictures you asked???? Heck, I don't know how, never bothered and never was much on takin' pictures anyway. Maybe the wife will help me..she's got a digital. We'll see..... bluekat76...LOL.....all my maters ARE planted. Even got a coupla blooms on two of them. Lookin good so far...... time will tell. oooops!!! ( back to edit ) forgot to reply to the August 16 tasting for Mid-Atlantic. Would be nice to meet you folks but the
Wife & I will be in OK, celebrating my Mom's 91st. birthday from Aug. 16--23.
Her birthday is Aug. 17. She's the one (and her parents) I got my love of gardening from. She started her own garden at age 5 with the help of her Mother.
This message was edited May 28, 2008 12:51 PM
I'm later than you Larry, mine just got planted out last weekend (spring monsoons) peppers have blooms, but the other stuff is still too small. Still at the flea beetle fighting stage with the eggplants. They are horrible here in west KY. I even resort to a dusting of Sevin on them.
Sorry to hear the the Ping Tung isn't wonderful. I've got a couple of Round Mauve plants, the Cambodian Green Giant, the Ping Tung and one plant that germinated from a batch of seeds sent from Syria. The Syrian eggplant is a total unknown, and since I only had 1 plant germinate, I'm guarding it from the flea beetles with my life!
Kai choy seeds I purchased in Hawaii. I have started growing them.
This is the Japanese cherry tomato that I'm growing in the EB. I purchased it from Kitazawa (I love that place!). It's doing really well and has a few blooms on it.
Well, my goodness, I have that catalogue! Seems like I would have noticed that tomato. I need to expand my garden space so I can have more of these veggies.
Here is a list of seed varieties I just ordered:
CHINESE BROCCOLI KAILAN,
EXTRA DWARF NAI YOU PAK CHOY
RED AMARANTH CRUENTUS LEAVES,
CHINESE CELERY KINTSAI,
JIE NAN FENG JIE CHOY MUSTARD
CHOY SUM, FLOWERING CABBAGE,
ASIAN YOU MO LETTUCE,
Here is a great shot off Flickr (not my photo)
and also a link to a photo of asian eggplant. I hope this link works for you...you might have to have a Fickr account.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kurtpreissler/1339246650/
How is the Japanese Supersweet 100 cherry tomato different from the Supersweet 100 cherry tomato I purchased at HD (Bonnie's Plants)?
Karen
Same, Japanese seed producers ( Sakata, Takii, and Toshita) are major players in the US market. You would be surprised at how many popular varieties they have introduced.
So the Supersweet 100 is a Japanese introduction then. That's interesting. Somewhere I read that the Supersweet 100 cherry tomatoes that you buy in the market will come true from seed about 90-95% of the time.
Farmerdill, what are some of the other Japanese introductions?
Karen
The original grape tomato (Santa) supposed ly comes true about 95 % of the time in F2 generation, but it is Chinese from Taiwans Known- You Seed company also a major player in the US commercial market. I grow Bella Rosa ( Sakata) the best of tomato spotted wilt resistant cultivars that I have tried. Lots of Broccoli and cabbage cultivars are Japanese or Chinese. Ditto for cucumbers, eggplant, winter squash. I usually think of Asian vegetables as those which are unique to Asian dishes. Greens, bottle gourds, bitter gourds, wax gourds, burdock, Leaf amaranth, Crysanthemum, pickling melons, winter radishes...
This Vietnamese retailer carries some of the latest hybrids from Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Thai seed producers. http://www.green-seeds.com/shopHome.asp Israel, Jordan, and India are also making their presence known in all vegetable production areas. The Israeli developed Galia melons are my favorite.
Farmerdill,
I did read that about the Santa grape tomato. Thought I also read it about the Supersweet 100 cherry. Maybe not. Maybe I'm confused.
My garden is really small, but I am trying new varieties every year. I'm slowly adding more space every year, too. I have an orange watermelon and a yellow watermelon. I'm hoping they'll grow much better this year. Per your advice, I planted them, as well as the squash and sweet potatoes, in the only sandy area (about 35'x35') we have here. Wouldn't you just know that because the ground is easy to dig we had designated that area as a pet cemetery? So, all that stuff is planted around the graves. Oh, well, best laid plans and all that. I don't suppose Stinker, Oliver, Blossom or Smoky will care anyway.
Thanks for the link. Very interesting.
Karen
It is quite possibly true about the Sweet 100 also. Many of the modern hybrids are from inbred breeding lines so differentiation into parent lines is not immediately obvious.
taynors...NEXT year for Asian varieties??? Why wait?? Remember, you DON'T have to wait until next year to plant Asian "leafy" greens. You can have TWO chances at growing them per year!! They grow better in the Fall (planted after August 15th.) than in the Springtime. Reason being--- In Springtime they are growing into the longer days of Summertime with warmer temperatures which "signals" them to bolt to seed & reproduce, thus shortening their usefulness as a tender & bitter-free green. Anything you grow in springtime, you can grow in the Fall and it does better in the Fall since they are growing into "shorter daylight hours & cooler temperatures" toward Winter which they like. Please don't forget to plant them for the Fall & early Winter.... they will love it & you'll enjoy them in your kitchen!!!!!
How could i have forgotten that . Thanks cottonpicker
i have a small hoop house that i thought about using for a fall crop
I do have a lettuce mix from SSE that i find does well in summer up to about Aug. as long as i keep it trimmed it is stil lpretty good and doesn't bolt.
Great i will be looking forward to this fall for asian varietys yeah
thanks
I love this thread. I did some articles for DG about asian vegetables and my experience with them. For the most part, they are cooler weather vegetables for me. I'm learning about more warm-weather greens varieties and I know Baker Creek are always working on that. I grow just about every Asian green I can get my hands on in spring and fall. Yum. Now I have Malaysian Long Red eggplant, white and green Thai eggplant, and will put in some red noodle beans as soon as I can get the hubby to help me throw up the new veggie garden archway this afternoon!
Last year I tried Asian Melons. They were ant magnets and need much more care to keep ants out. Their soft skins are a problem here in the South. I'd try them again though if I can grow them vertically.
GGG
http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/442/
http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/477/