The Rural Voice, 2005-04, Page 47Gardening
New vegetables for gour garden and gour diet
Rhea
Hamilton -
Seeger and
her husband
live near
Auburn. She
is a skilled
cook and
gardener.
By Rhea Hamilton -Seeger
It has been years since we were
first introduced to Chinese cabbage.
It was served raw with a soy -sauce
based dressing, crunchy fried soup
noodles and lots of green onions. We
were sold and now it is included with
the rest of the family recipes.
Since then snow peas, and the
large white Japanese Daikon radish
have become part of our menus. We
have been introduced to a few of the
oriental greens through the
community garden and have had
mixed reviews from our kids over the
hotly flavoured mustard greens.
What we call oriental greens are
all from the Brassicas family. They
come in such a variety of colour and
leaf shape one can be forgiven for
thinking these vegetables are from
different plant families.
We all recognize Chinese cabbage
with its long drawn-out head of pale
green and white leaves. But Mizuma
is a cluster of delicately divided
leaves that are pretty enough to grow
in a planter around the patio.
Komatsuna greens are a smaller
version of what looks like Swiss
chard but tastes like a cross between
cabbage and spinach.
You might not recognize the name
Tatsoi but I think you would easily
recognize its open-hearted cluster of
spoon -shaped dark green leaves —
another flavourful addition to stir -
fries and salads.
Take ' a look at your grocery store
and count the number of vegetables
that you would not have seen 15 or
20 years ago. Oriental greens and
vegetables are gaining popularity
among gardeners too. These
vegetables are not difficult to grow
and gardeners have been delighted
with the results. Seed companies
make selecting seed easier when they
group their seeds under the heading
Oriental vegetables. Check out Vesey
Seeds, Ontario Seed Company and
Dominion Seed House.
The exotic becomes accessible
with these easy -to -grow vegetables.
They need fertile, moisture -retentive
soil and an endless supply of water.
They have a very long season which
extends from early spring to late in
the fall. You may notice a drop in
growth during the hot droughty
weeks after sowing, komatsuna
after eight, Chinese cabbage after
nine and mizuna greens after
10 weeks.
As with any greens for salads
there is a fear of bolting. Yes, I mean
running away. Low temperatures
when seeds are germinating or lack of
moisture will spur the plants to bolt
or mature quickly.
There are ways to keep seeds
warm in the early spring. Floating
row covers made of plastic or a soft
fleecy film are available. They will
help heat up the soil and keep it
warm at night but will not protect
your seeds/seedlings from frost. They
also provide a bit of protection from
some pests like cabbage maggot and
cabbage white butterfly. Secure
the edge with stones or boards for
s-17.:,,the four to five weeks you may
be using the cover. Onions, radishes.
_and potatoes will all benefit from
this extra warmth early in the spring.
Just remember, it won't protect
against frost. 1 can't stress that too
often.
One last item to consider for your
oriental garden. If you enjoy radishes
try the Japanese Daikon radish. The
trick is to sow them after the longest
day of the summer. The long white
radishes take up to three months to
mature and do best in Tight sandy soil.
You may have to water the seeds in
order to get a good germination rate
but keep in mind excessive watering
will force more leaf growth at the
expense of the root.
What do you do with a 10 -inch -
long radish? We grate it and then add
parsley. oil. vinegar. and salt and
pepper to taste. If you find your
radish is a little too hot or bitter. ou
can liberally add salt to the grated
radish. and let it sit for five to 10
minutes before squeezing out the
moisture. The salt will draw out any
bitterness. Loosen up with a fork and
add your oil. vinegar and spices to
taste.
As 1 write this to you now it is
snowing but it won't be long before
the ground will show and we will
all be up to our elbows in the
garden.0
weeks of summer.
The easiest way to grow them is to
mix equal parts of seed of bok choi
(Brassica rapa var. chinensis), loose-
leaf Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa
var. pekinesnsis), mizuna greens
(Brassica rapa var. nipposinica) and
komatsuna (Brassica rapa var.
perviridis) also known as mustard
spinach. Thinly sow them about 1/2
inch deep (1 cm) over a wide bed. If
you are looking to enjoy these greens
in a salad you could begin to cut -and -
come -again in as little as one month.
Cut the greens above the base of the
leaves to allow them to resprout. You
can do this three times before you
have to reseed. For a little variety add
some red -leafed lettuce to the mix.
These wonderful greens can be
used as a salad or stir -fried. The
flavour of the greens will intensify
with cooking, especially the mustard
greens. If you are more interested in
growing these greens separately in
rows and letting them mature, the bok
choi may be ready to pick six
APRIL 2005 43