Green gardening: Growing Asian greens

There is a tremendous appetite for Asian greens across Canada today and most nursery catalogues now include some of the more popular forms. Varieties such as amaranth, Chinese cabbage, and bok choi will all grow successfully in your home garden.

Usually listed in the flower section of seed catalogues, Amaranthus tricolor, or Joseph's coat, is known as Chinese spinach in Asian seed lists. Leaves are marked or coloured with red areas and the flower spikes are brightly coloured with yellow and red. Amaranth is rich in iron, calcium, and vitamins A and C. It can be used raw in salads and in cooked dishes. If plants run to seed, the seeds can be ground to make a high-protein flour.

Two good varieties to grow are:

1. All Red Leaf
2. White Leaf

• Sowing time varies with the variety and use: early spring for seed production, late spring to early summer for leaves, picked as you would spinach.
• Sow seeds six millimetres deep and one centimetre (1/2 inch) apart in rows 45 centimetres (18 inches) apart. Cropping time is up to 50 days.

North American mustard greens tend to be very strong flavoured, almost bitter, but the Chinese varieties are milder. They can be used raw or cooked and have a peppery taste. Use the mild ones raw in salads, the more pungent ones in stir fries, soups, or pickles. The seeds can be ground and used to make a mustard with vinegar and spices.

Good varieties to grow are:

1. Red Giant
2. Miike Giant
3. Bamboo Gai Choi.

• They thrive in cool weather and should be sown outdoors in spring, and again in fall where winters are mild, sowing the seeds six millimetres deep, two centimetres (one inch) apart in rows 30 centimetres apart.
• Thin plants to 10 centimetres (four inches) apart and start to pick the leaves when the plants are about 15 to 20 centimetres (six to eight inches) tall. Plants will be mature within 35 to 50 days, depending on the variety.

The main shapes of Chinese cabbage are barrel (napa or wong bok), cylindrical (michihli), and loose- or semi-headed. The first two are well known and widely available in many seed catalogues. Sow crops to be left to mature in summer or early fall, those to be cut semi-mature from spring to autumn. In cool climates, mature crops can also be sown in spring.

Good varieties to grow:

1. Napa type — Blues, Tenderheart, and China Pride are all suitable for spring sowing.
2. Michihili type — Greenwich, Green Rocket, and Jade Pagoda should all be sown in late summer.
3. Loose-headed type — Kaisin Hakusai and Lettucy sow from late spring through summer.

• Sow outside 12 to 18 millimetres deep and about three centimetres (one inch) apart in rows 30 centimetres (12 inches) apart.
• Thin in stages to 30 centimetres (12 inches) apart.
• Seeds can also be started indoors but are best sown in individual peat pots so they can be planted out without root disturbance.

Also known as celery cabbage and mustard cabbage, this is probably the most widely available of all the Chinese vegetables.

Pak choi grows best in cool weather, so plant it in early spring and again after the heat of summer. It will mature in about eight weeks and spring-sown crops should be cut as mature plants.

Good varieties to grow:

1. Green-stemmed include — Mei Qing Choi and Shanghai.
2. White-stemmed include — Joi Choi, Taisai, and the miniature Toy Choi.

• Sow six to 12 millimetres deep and five centimetres (two inches) apart in rows 45 centimetres (18 inches) apart.
• When the seedlings are about 10 centimetres (four inches) tall, thin to 15 centimetres (six inches) apart, eating the thinnings.