Going green with Pak Choi, other oriental greens and ridge cucumbers
GROW IT - EAT IT
Pak Choi, Oriental Mustard, Chinese cabbage, spinach mustard (also called Komatsuna) and Mizuna might seem off-putting, with strange names, but they are easy to grow and you will get quick results to add to salads and stir- fries.
This group of green vegetables are really useful in the kitchen garden as they grow very quickly and will be ready to pick within weeks – four to six weeks for Pak Choi, eight weeks for Komatsuna, Chinese cabbage and Mizuna after about ten weeks, and with Oriental Mustard taking between six and 13 weeks. Don’t sow them too early though, or they will go to seed.
They need a fertile soil, warm temperatures and plenty of moisture. Sow the individual crops little and often as this can be a cut and come again vegetable, cutting a few leaves quite often from above the base of the plant and letting it grow again.
Sow about 1cm (½in) deep and leave about 30cm (12in) between the large vegetables, such as Chinese Cabbage. Put a covering of fleece over the earliest sowings to protect them. Thin the seedlings as necessary but cut and come again crops don’t really need much thinning unless you have sown the seed a bit too freely.
You can keep on sowing the seed from spring until late summer. Just remember to keep them well watered and keep cutting the leaves. Once picked use them promptly as they won’t stand looking fresh for long.
Pests to look out for
Cabbage root fly attacks all types of brassicas, the Eastern ones as much as the ones traditionally grown in Western countries. Placing a circle of roofing felt or carpet underlay under the young plants stops the cabbage root fly from laying its eggs next to the stem, with the maggots feeding on the roots.
Pak Choi is useful in the kitchen garden as they grow very quickly and will be ready to pick within weeks
usually grown in a greenhouse, but these half-hardy annual plants are just as tasty and not hard to grow. Early June is the time to plant them out, but they do not have to be grown in ridges of soil as their name suggests, and as was done by the older gardeners.
If you haven’t grown them from seed sown indoors in the early spring, you can buy young plants at garden centres and some nurseries. Harden off the young plants for a few days, by leaving them outside and bringing them into the greenhouse or indoors overnight.
Before planting them out make sure that the soil has been enriched with plenty of organic matter, mostly compost, to retain moisture. They also need full sun. Give them plenty of room – spacing about 60cm (24in) apart.
Ridge cucumbers
For those of us who find Oriental vegetables a bit too different (but you should at least try growing them once, and you may be pleasantly surprised), the very English alternative particularly for summer eating is the cucumber.
Ridge cucumbers (Cucumus sativus) are grown outdoors, and are shorter than the ordinary type of cucumber
28
You won’t need many plants as the yield is high, usually about 12 fruits to each plant. Three plants are about the right number to plant for a small family.
When the plants have six pairs of leaves, pinch out the growing tip to encourage side shoots to form. These will produce the cucumbers. Don’t remove any flowers. Feed and water the plants regularly with a high-potash fertiliser – ask at your local garden shop or garden centre for a suitable type.
Country Gardener
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56