Derald wrote:
songbird wrote:

this year i'm adding pak choi

got seeds?

yes, we found some the other day.


for Nyssa:

can they be shredded and fermented like
saurkraut? someone mentioned to me that many
of the firmer vegetables (including turnips and
radishes) can be fermented. i've not tried it
yet, though, so i have no idea how well it
might work or what it tastes like. figure if
you have extra it might be worth a try instead
of throwing it out or composting it.


songbird

Nyssa wrote:
songbird wrote:
....
do you like fennel? it is much quicker and easier
to grow.


this year i'm adding pak choi and fennel to the mix.
we'll see how they do in various locations, some with
competition and others with none, and a variety of
soil places and moisture levels.

I don't care for fennel, but I have grown bak choy
several times. I usually stick to the extra dwarf variety
for salads and the dwarf for use in stir fries and
soups.

I'd grow bak choy more often, but I'm the only one
who eats it. I can't give it away to the neighbors, ditto
any other Asian vegetable that I like, so I rarely grow
it anymore. It just rots since I can't use it all.

Nyssa, who needs to recruit neighbors who are more open
to "strange" foods

hmm. good luck with that!

ah, too bad about the fennel as i think it is so
wimpy, especially when cooked that it doesn't really
take much like anything, similar enough to celery
for me to use it.

do you recall any other asian veggies you used to
grow in Michigan? (i'm in mid-michigan...) i'm mostly
looking for those that will self-perpetuate too and
those with firmer and larger leaves. i figure if i
can keep planting a mix of edibles here and they'll
take then it's a good food source if needed, and if
not needed i'll let it be bunny and worm food...


songbird

Nyssa wrote:
songbird wrote:

Nyssa wrote:
Derald wrote:
...
Well, my "rows" amounted to a four-foot double row.
Gonna leave the remaining ten plants in place, primarily
to see how they handle hot
weather. I'm thinking that, next year, five or six
plants will be more my speed, too.
Along with the bok choy, I'm trying a couple of other
new-to-me
stuff, too. Those that interest me most are celery and
a "new" variety of carrots.

I wish you luck with the celery.

me too!


I grew beautiful, plump and juicy celery in Michigan, but
my attempts in SE VA were a bust. Too stringy and thin
stalks. Between the long growing span of celery and the
heat here, celery wasn't happy and the results weren't
worth the effort and garden space.

aww...


Nyssa, who can't grow half of what she uses because it
won't grow here or the voles get it

do you like fennel? it is much quicker and easier
to grow.


this year i'm adding pak choi and fennel to the mix.
we'll see how they do in various locations, some with
competition and others with none, and a variety of
soil places and moisture levels.


songbird

I don't care for fennel, but I have grown bak choy
several times. I usually stick to the extra dwarf variety
for salads and the dwarf for use in stir fries and
soups.

I'd grow bak choy more often, but I'm the only one
who eats it. I can't give it away to the neighbors, ditto
any other Asian vegetable that I like, so I rarely grow
it anymore. It just rots since I can't use it all.

Nyssa, who needs to recruit neighbors who are more open
to "strange" foods

Don't call it them furrin names tell them its cabbage.

D

On Monday, March 3, 2014 4:28:42 PM UTC-5, songbird wrote:
Derald wrote:

songbird wrote:



this year i'm adding pak choi



got seeds?



yes, we found some the other day.





for Nyssa:



can they be shredded and fermented like

saurkraut? someone mentioned to me that many

of the firmer vegetables (including turnips and

radishes) can be fermented. i've not tried it

yet, though, so i have no idea how well it

might work or what it tastes like. figure if

you have extra it might be worth a try instead

of throwing it out or composting it.





songbird

Most any vegetable can be brine pickled. The ratio is 50 lbs veg to 1 lb. salt.Be sure to use canning /pickling salt for the process.
Steve
remembering grandma's picled green beans and corn.

In article ,
songbird wrote:

ah, too bad about the fennel as i think it is so
wimpy, especially when cooked that it doesn't really
take much like anything, similar enough to celery
for me to use it.

Why would you cook it??

--
Cats, coffee, chocolate...vices to live by
Please don't feed the trolls. Killfile and ignore them so they will go away.

Ecnerwal wrote:
songbird wrote:

ah, too bad about the fennel as i think it is so
wimpy, especially when cooked that it doesn't really
take much like anything, similar enough to celery
for me to use it.

Why would you cook it??

celery substitute... why do people cook celery?

but i like it fresh too as i like celery crunchy
too.


songbird

In article ,
songbird wrote:

celery substitute... why do people cook celery?

Probably to keep me from eating it - and carrots, Jerusalem artichokes,
and spinach, and (evidently) fennel, among other perfectly nice foods
that are ruined by cooking.

(But I'm no "raw food diet" fool.)

Peas and corn can go either way (a little heat melts the butter, but is
otherwise not critical, and the butter doesn't help my height to width
ratio anyway.) Cabbage should just be turned into sauerkraut. Potatoes,
squash and plantains need cooking. Apples can go either way (some more
one direction than others, of course.)

To each their own...so long as they are not serving me. ;^)

--
Cats, coffee, chocolate...vices to live by
Please don't feed the trolls. Killfile and ignore them so they will go away.

songbird wrote:

Nyssa wrote:
songbird wrote:
...
do you like fennel? it is much quicker and easier
to grow.


this year i'm adding pak choi and fennel to the mix.
we'll see how they do in various locations, some with
competition and others with none, and a variety of
soil places and moisture levels.

I don't care for fennel, but I have grown bak choy
several times. I usually stick to the extra dwarf variety
for salads and the dwarf for use in stir fries and
soups.

I'd grow bak choy more often, but I'm the only one
who eats it. I can't give it away to the neighbors, ditto
any other Asian vegetable that I like, so I rarely grow
it anymore. It just rots since I can't use it all.

Nyssa, who needs to recruit neighbors who are more open
to "strange" foods

hmm. good luck with that!

ah, too bad about the fennel as i think it is so
wimpy, especially when cooked that it doesn't really
take much like anything, similar enough to celery
for me to use it.

do you recall any other asian veggies you used to
grow in Michigan? (i'm in mid-michigan...) i'm mostly
looking for those that will self-perpetuate too and
those with firmer and larger leaves. i figure if i
can keep planting a mix of edibles here and they'll
take then it's a good food source if needed, and if
not needed i'll let it be bunny and worm food...


songbird
Sorry, I didn't grow Asian vegetables when I lived in
Michigan, so I can't help with any specifics for there.

But I can steer you to my source for Asian vegetable
seeds: kitazawaseed.com

They're located in Oakland, CA, and have been in business
for ages. Their catalog is worth having on hand both
for the seed descriptions, but also for the recipe suggestions.

Besides the extra dwarf and dwarf bok choy, I also have
grown several varieties of their snap and snow peas,
napa cabbage, and a green called Vitamina which is a
very fast growing cabbage-like green. There are two
lettuce varieties that are among my favorites, Okayama
Salad and Manoa (which even my fussy neighbor loves).
Lots of goodies to choose from, although their shipping
prices are a bit steep, so I only order from them
every other year.

HTH

Nyssa, who just got hit with a winter storm on Monday
after hitting 60+ degrees on Sunday...what a winter!

Nyssa wrote:

Nyssa, who just got hit with a winter storm on Monday
after hitting 60+ degrees on Sunday...what a winter!

Last week I was riding my Harley for my errands . This week we're waiting
for the ice to melt enough to get out to the highway - and we drive a 4WD
4Runner .
--
Snag
Stone County Ar.