I was very disappointed when my main Asian greens bed all died from some kind of disease back in late August. Brassicas were planted in this bed for spring and fall which is usually a bad idea. Crops should be rotated But I got away with it at my last garden. Soil born diseases were fairly uncommon there. Here I lose a lot of plants. Next year I'll have to make a new rotation where the brassicas move from spring to fall. Maybe I'll put some bush beans in where the spring brassicas come out. Or maybe that is where the fall carrots will go. Or maybe some late zucchini.
Rock wall garden
At least I have my last minute Asian greens bed. It was put in at the beginning of September to replace the lost bed and started picking the bed by thinning at the end of September. All the greens here are fast growing greens. This section of the rock wall garden is 9' long by 2.5' deep. It provides more greens that I could possibly eat.
One of my favorites growing in the rock wall garden is the Shanghai bok choy. I love it grilled with a bit of oil, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper sprinkled on it before cooking. I have a white stemmed bok choy that I like too. It is milder and bolts faster than the green stemmed one. I tend to use that one in stir fries.
Then I have my tatsoi. I eat it in soups and stir fries. One of my favorites and certainly the easiest way is to just season some chicken broth with a bit of soy sauce. I get it boiling. Put the leaves in your soup bowl and pour the broth over the leaves. This cooks the leaves perfectly. They really don't need a lot of cooking.
The last of the greens in my rock wall garden is the Fun Jen. The slugs love it since it is so mild, but it makes a great Asian salad. The last one I made had carrots, red onions, Fun Jen, and apples in it. It was dressed with a mustard and soy sauce dressing. No recipe, but use a basic vinaigrette recipe and add a bit of Dijon mustard, some soy sauce, and a little honey.
That is too bad about the diseases. I don't do a strict rotation in my greenhouse beds but so far I've gotten away with planting the same greens there (spinach, lettuce, Asian greens).
ReplyDeleteThe white flies like my Fun Jen. They seem to like any yellowish green plant I grow in the greenhouse. It is nice for salads though.
I have really got to grow some of that Fun Jen. It looks like a winner. (as does that salad!)
ReplyDeletesorry to hear about the diseases! However the rest of your greens look great.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the idea on what to do with the tatsoi. I got the seeds from Emily and its growing now. I may have to have stir fry tonight and start it off with the tatsoi soup with a few green onions tossed on top. Yum. Should be good.
ReplyDeleteLove your asian greens Daphne. (Have to admit I missed sowing mine this year. I have to make do with some lettuce, rather too many radishes, lambs lettuce and watercress.)
ReplyDeleteMe too — I so need to grow that Fun Jen next season! How did you you come to start growing it, Daphne?
ReplyDeleteThat cooking method for Tatsoi sounds perfect and I'd never thought of grilling Bok choi either.
ReplyDeleteIt is so great to see something green growing this time of year.
ReplyDeleteYour greens are looking great and I love those carrots!
ReplyDeleteThe salad looks yummy; I'll have to try something like that if and when my tatsoi gets big enough...
Great looking greens, glad to see you are up and at it again. I hope all is well.
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