What Asian vegetables are you growing this year. Any old favorites? How do you like to eat them?

What does really well for you? What doesn't?

Are you trying any new varieties this year? If so... what?

Have any tips or tricks you think others might benefit from?

Look forward to hearing from you!

Spinach seeds from seeds of India .com few other Indian leafy vegetables. I do not know the botanical names.

Gongura (sorrel) stopped growing them as I moved to a new home. Takes space.

Bitter melon; three varieties from Ever green all chosen for 50-60 days time frame.
Tindora (ivy gourd); 3 plants
Curry leaf 3 different cultivars. Dark leaves, serrated leaves. One from Ceylon.
Cucumbers. Yellow variety from seeds of India or seeds from friends or from India.
Successive planting May, June and July.
Sweet banana peppers. /and egg plants. All slim long slender types from seeds of India and Ever green.
Semi retired. Moved to a small home with open yard and restrictions about gardening.
6 inches, 8 inches, 10 inches and 12 inches high raised beds.
15 square feet of in ground planting.
Containers: gave up on swimming pool planters as they are not very durable. Changed to animal feed troughs and basins. And several other types.

Trelis .Mel's tomato tower type and "A" frame trellis from gardeners supply with net.

Foliar feeding. Use it heavily though there is controversy. Not interested in a seal of approval from others. Use fish emulsion, kelp, potassium silicate, liquid calcium and Dynagrow 7-9-5 with minerals.

sora and beera(Bottle and Ridge gourd) did fine. But bitter gourd, snake gourd and chikkudu died. That was my first time to do gardening in my life. but my in-laws were here so they helped alot.

This year i have all these seeds and most green vegetable. Can any one please help me what to plant when?

Also i have got around 300 sqft area tilled and composted. But this was open. the compost is running to lower ground. Can we build inexpensive raised beds? We are not that big of handy people. We would rather buy if they are comparitively less expensive. Can any one have any ideas on how to keep the beds in best shape and not to let the top soil run waste?

eswar seems to be experinced gardener. I have read your post in "Square food gardening-- is it gimmick?"

I can take more of your input on square foot gardening as we are young couple with toddler and both of us working.

Thanks.

I could describe it to you but it would be so much easier for you to stop by your local book store and pick up the latest edition that came out a Feb 2006. It explains everything you need to know.

I also recommend getting the previous edition which you can order used from Amazon.com for a total of $4.50 including shipping (cheap!). The older one has a lot more information on growing vegetables.

Stop by the www.squarefootgardening.com web site.

There is also a SFG Forum here at GardenWeb:

Japanese Cucumber - Kyoto 3 Feet (I don't think this one is going to work very well in our short season), Tasty King

Japanese Eggplant - Kurume Long, Shoya Long (Yasakanaga grew very well for us in 2006 but was too bitter)
Thai Eggplant - Roleks and Long Green (Apple Green seed has become difficult to find so hope this "fills the bill")

Snake Gourd - Snaky (I don't knoooww ;o)
Bitter Melons - Bangkok Large, Beauty Winner (it's the wife ;o)

Mustard - Mizuna, Gai-Choi, San-Ho Giant, Hmong, Kakku Takanna
Bok Choy - Mei Qing Choi (our stand-by), Maruba Santo (sooo tender), Bonsai (baby) & Red Choi (will be new for us this year)
Chinese Cabbage - Fun Jen, Kaisen Hakusai, Blues (the only barrel type that ever worked for us but grown in plastic tunnel last year so that may have been the key)

Malabar Spinach, Green Vine, Red Vine (DW, again)

Thai Basil - 3 or so varieties
Cilantro
Korean Mint (I like anise hyssop tea so have high hopes here)

Carrot - Kuroda (been intending to grow it forever but understand it's a Chantenay-type so does that make it Asian or European?? :o)

Steve

Can you provide more info on what the most recent year is or your preferred year for the Nourishment Home Grown title?

Steve,
The Kuroda type carrot is predominant in parts of Asia, South America, and Africa is often called "Kuroda Chantenay" for its shape.

Thank you.. so exactly where does one purchase a new edition when it is out? Can you provide URLs?

I expect this book to be available from printers (back order sold out) with in a week.
By necessity (age, empty nest, moved to a smaller home with small yard) my garden is smaller.
My wife says" do not forget I am also getting old. Do not grow too much".
For me it is fun experimenting. But trying to grow little for 2 is difficult. One ends with too much.
This year I am adding complete organic fertilizer to my raised beds (Mel’s mix).
I used Steve salmons Dyna grow before and it works. (7-9-5- with trace minerals)
I used fertigation of Steve Solomon before it works also.
After seeing several Lab reports of people who used bitter melon, which showed significant drop in serum triglycerides, cholesterol, etc. I will be having few more bitter melon plants.

To an extent, we have nearly unlimited land for gardens. This year, we will probably again have the larger garden tilled by a service. And, there we are on the freshly tilled ground with all this seed ordered from the catalogs . . .

Please keep in mind that planting should take a whole lot less time than harvesting and processing. Folks can also get really discouraged trying to weed and irrigate a large garden thru months and months of, sometimes, very hot weather.

One day in the pleasant Spring, we need to take our bags of seed and just walk away . . . we'll be back soon enuf for the water and weeding . . . and with conscientious care, buckets and buckets for harvest. The seeds can come back too - filling in where something else has been taken out.

Steve

1 - kabocha vines run rampant. especially after the heat of summer dies down.
2 - don't plant cucumbers and melons next to kabocha...they will be run over by kabocha.
3 - just because plants are small when you buy them, doesn't mean that you can plant them close together...my garden was a jungle by fall.
4 - my dog likes to eat petrified eggplant...
5 - a homemade bamboo trellis is not strong enough for 2 kabocha vines and 2 cucumber vines.

that said, I'm going to do a raised bed in my vegetable area this year. I will plant japanese eggplant and maybe cucumbers in it. In front of the raised bed, I want to grow herbs like shiso and mint. I'd also like to fit in some swiss chard and other greens somewhere. I think I'm going to do tomatoes in a container, and "black knight" passion fruit in a container (if I get advice on that in the passiflora forum). I will grow kabocha again, but I think I'll do it along the back fence behind the pool equipment. There's a little more room there. I'd like to do melon, too. I also want to plant a fuyu persimmon tree back there. I'm trying to lay out and figure things out these days. I of course still have to clean up the mess that was my veggie garden from last year...

I found that Evergreen site this morning, and am very excited about what they carry!

Visit Evergreen Seeds for your long eggplant and bitter gourd varieties.

As for fungus, be sure to rotate your crops and discard diseased plant matter in the fall (remove it entirely from your property). Look for varieties that are resistant to your fungal problem.

To find the curry leaf plant, do a search of this forum, this has been discussed many times.

now to figure out where to put everything...

Mildew resistant varieties are out there but I don’t know if they have tomato and eggplant choices. (powdery mildew is a real killer of cucurbits)

Iowa State has a pdf document (see below) that has some (horrible) pictures of tomato diseases and recommendation for resistant varieties.

I've been curious about Komatsuna and now they have this hybrid Komatsuna/cabbage, Senposai. Another tempting green! Large enuf leaves for cabbage rolls, huh? Flip, did you put the quotation marks around cabbage because they aren't cabbage or because your rolls were really tiny?

Cabbage rolls were once a very important part of my menu. Cabbage was a big part of storage crops for the Winter, years ago. Herbivore meat filling and tomato sauce with onions and oregano to go over the cabbage rolls.

We still have cabbage rolls. My wife makes them with bean thread noodles as a binder and cilantro/scallions instead of the oregano. Hadn’t thought of using the Asian greens. We grow the baby bok choy but, I’d suppose, the leaves of the larger varieties might work.

Steve

.bottle gourd-alok,
.ridge gourd - rishi
.ash gourd- yash
.cukes/carrots- dosakkai, kakdi, kesar
.greens- totakoora, gongura(light and dark green), spinach- karma, sagar
.bitter gourd - jawahar, india baby, baby doll, green queen,
.eggplant - ratna, shyamala, bali, apsara, ma-zu, ping-tung,
.snake gourd - extra long dancer
.tomatoes - sun cherry
.sweet/hot peppers - taza, sona, jwala, damini
.okra - komal, nirmal, chanchal
besides these, there will be many sweet 100 and sweet 1million cherry tomatoes.

will probably need to research square foot gardening before i sow the seeds! I have only about 150 square foot right now.

Thanks!

I'm curious about your garden's exposure to sunlight. Most plants require sunlight thru half of every Summer day. Greens do not have as great of need but fruiting plants like tomatoes and eggplants need a good deal of sunshine to stay healthy and produce.

No greens, or am I missing them on your list?

I hate to see blight on tomatoes and it will even kill the early determinates in my garden after their first rush of fruit. Sweet 100's are not determinates so it takes longer for them to "grow old" and become vulnerable. You may have better luck with Sweet Millions because they are supposed to have excellent disease resistance. (Sun cherries will be a new one for us this year! :o)

Generally, it is always better to have soil that is deeper and more fertile. Cornell University is such a good place to look for information. Don't get mired down . . . the link is to their pages on organic methods for tomato, pepper and eggplant problems. There are other plant families listed on the left side of the page. Hope it helps.

Steve

Huge leaves. They were, ohhh, about 10 inches long and 7 inches wide when I harvested them. I think they can get even bigger than that but I'm treating them as "cut and come again" plants rather than letting the whole thing mature and harvesting at once.

"Flip, did you put the quotation marks around cabbage because they aren't cabbage or because your rolls were really tiny?"

Heh heh... Because they aren't cabbage. Although, I guess they're half cabbage, so that sort of counts, right? I think Fedco refers to them as collards. Whatever they are, they're pretty darn good.

I used to get mildly aggravated every time I felt the need to comment on one of my favorite greens - Perpetual Spinach. I predate the closer amalgamation of scientific names for spinach and beet/chard families. The science community now place these plants in family Amaranthaceae but spinach used to be with orache and lambs quarters in Chenopodiaceae. Oh well, getting off topic unless I actually knew something about Asian amaranths.

I'm not really very cosmopolitan, altho' my Asian wife is willing to join me in gathering a "mess" of the nicest redroot pigweed every year for dinner. "Perpetual spinach" might better be called "spinach beet." It is a type of chard with smaller petioles and midribs. Cultivating it are those exotic English, Steve, and a few "others."

Now back to what the Japanese apparently have done in crossing Brassica oleracea with Brassica rapa.!?! Senposai cannot be collards - Brassica oleracea (acephala group). I bet it's tasty whatever it's called.

The English will probably call it: "potherb mustard" . . . First there was "perpetual spinach" . . . the English-speaking people have attempted to control every facet of our education . . . Wee muuust reeziissst . . .

Steve

If it's half cabbage, half mustard... perhaps we could call it... Cabbard! Or Mubbage. In all seriousness, what would the species & genus of Senposai be? Maybe that's off topic for this particular discussion. If you want, you can mail me about that, too. :)

I am as much an amateur researcher as I am a gardener, and my vegetable garden is increasingly oriented toward trials & preservation efforts. Every year I plan several major projects & experiments, including at least one involving Asian vegetables; and the main project this year is a trial of vegetables from the Philippines.

I have been fortunate in my seed collecting this past year, so it all came together. There will be 2 Filipino varieties of yardlong beans ("Galante" and "Sierra Madre"), 2 of cowpeas ("Bush Sitao Var. BS-3" and "CES-18-6 Paayap"), 4 of mung beans/green gram (from USDA), 4 of eggplants (also from USDA), and 1 cucumber ("Beit Alpha MR").

Day-length sensitivity & long-season requirements are often issues with seed from tropical sources, so I don't expect widespread success. Hopefully, at least a few will be able to adapt to my climate; if so, I will attempt to re-introduce them into the Filipino-American community.

This year will also be Year 2 of my bunching onion trials. Eight varieties survived the trial for winter-hardiness, to greater or lesser degrees: "Evergreen", "Four Seasons", "Franz", "Fuyuyo", "Red Beard", "Shimonita", "Stevenson", and "Welsh".

Some of these varieties have proven to be multipliers, splitting from the base - often forming clumps in large numbers. Others had predominantly one single large stalk (similar to leeks), which seldom split. The single-stalk varieties had the greatest winter mortality, so I will try to get seed from them this summer. Specific information on each variety will be posted on the Allium Forum at the conclusion of the trial.

My soybean trials continue, with around 20 varieties this year (still in planning stages). Of these, only 5-6 will be true "edamame" types; but I test them all as edamame regardless. Many of the other cultivars I grow are high-protein, so if they prove tasty as edamame, then they have potential as a nutritious garden crop.

Several last year showed great potential; one North Korean variety in particular (GL 2216/84) was tested as 57% protein & 14% oil dry. It proved to be a very early edamame, with dwarf 12" plants. I am hopeful that there will be some surprises this year as well.

Rounding out my Asian vegetable trials will be an adzuki bean ("Red & White"), a Japanese cucumber ("Yamato Extra Long"), and two bitter melons ("Abashi" and "Taiwan Large"). An additional adzuki bean, "Murasaki", failed to mature last year, and will be re-attempted this year from large transplants.

Amongst my search results for Senposai, I came across a book by Joy Larkcom titled Oriental Vegetables, the complete guide for the gardening cook. It refers to Senposai as the "one thousand treasure vegetable." I actually checked this out of my local library some years ago. The book is from 1991 and Senposai was brand new at the time.

Now that I’ve sat around for the last 16 years, I have learned that it was developed by Tokita Seeds which the San Francisco Chronicle notes also as the breeder of the SunGold tomato, hmmm & mmmm. Perhaps not strangely, searching the Tokita website turns up nothing for Senposai – apparently they have gone on to new generations of plants while I have been off sleeping in the garden.

Senposai in North Carolina State U. trials is listed as a "collard." I may be swimming against the tide here. The researcher does identify it as Brassica rapa x Brassica oleracea.

Zeedman, it is good to see that you are busy again this year. Personally, I will be looking forward to a report on your results especially on those bunching onions.

Steve

This year I am going to grow marlabar spinach. I started it indoor and the seedings have first true leave. I also planted bitter melon seeds indoor about 2-3 weeks ago, I saw the soil starts to break.
Last year I planted buttercup and I really liked it. I did some research on buttercup squashes and decided to grow Kabocha type this year. I grow Sweet Mama and Delica, both are Hybrid with sweet, dry taste and can be store for very longtime. I grow Kailiann(chinese broccoli)evry year and it grows well in my area and it is easy to take care of them.
Something that I am going to grow and I have absolutely no idea of is Egyptian spinach. Its seed looks like from Cole family. I have never seen the plant but I dare to try this year. I started the seed just few days ago and it is germinating.
I also planted Shiso(red)seeds about a month ago and haven't see any seen sign of life. Does anyone know Shiso seed needs sun light or not sun light to germinate? Or does it have low germination rate? Besides Shiso, I aslo grow Japanese green Mibuna and Mizuna.
I aslo grow silverline melon. I had tasted it before (It can be bought at Korean G. store), it taste pleasantly sweet.
I grow both green and purpule hycinth beans on a net. They grow vigorously in the hot temperature and the leaves and flowers are very ornimental. Many people don't eat hycineth bean in U.S, but I grow them and eat the pod.

Can you please tell me from where I can get Tindora (ivy gourd)plant or seed.

Thanks in advance.

This year -few days ago (I propagated them )and gave about 14 plants to other people.
If you can wait for 2 months may be I can send you some.( free , Pay shipping costs) But it may be late.Then -No choice you have to get it from him.

Thanks for your advice before. I bought sqft gardening book and built two 9x4 sqft beds with cinder block. haven't planted any thing yet. it was freezing here last weekend(NC). i have lots of seeds. okra, bitter gourd, bottle gourd, snake gourd, ridge gourd, spinach, tomato, carrot, beetroot, cherry tomato, beans, goru chikkudu, brinjal, may be(dosa), cant recognize the seeds. I started some in tray two days back. but last year i didn't have any success. they were good inside. but i guess i planted during hot sun or something like that. all of them died. i planted some directly. they came out okay.

can you please tell me what should i plant when?
our temps are going to be highs around 70 and low 40's.

tomorrow i am going to sprinkle, carrot, spinach and beetroot. should i put cardboard as a cover for them until they germinate? will it help them to grow faster?

Thanks.

For raised beds I use Mel’s mix. Or compost to which I add Espoma garden tone or plant tone.
It takes about 65 days.

If your soil surface dries out quickly, covering the seed bed with cardboard or something may help. I forget to look under things and the plants grow . . . out of sight, out of mind doesn't work very well for me. You can also press the soil down a little over the seeds. Misting the soil if it begins to dry works but you can soon build a crust that the seedlings will have a more difficult time breaking thru.

All this is more important with small, slow-germinating seeds (like carrots & beets) near the surface than larger seeds planted more deeply, or quickly germinating seeds (like cabbage-family, spinach, and lettuce).

Transplanting from indoors should only be done after a few days hardening-off the plants. A day that is overcast and rainy is a good choice for transplanting as long as your plants don't get beaten down. Early in the Spring, you need to keep your fingers crossed that you don't have frosts after weather like this but cool and wet is much preferable to blazing hot sun.

Just my 2 cents.

Steve

Have started various eggplant, several types of peppers although they are more of the Italian type than thai(too hot for me!!). Tomorrow I am ready to start various colors of hyacinth bean (still not brave enough to cook), and yard long beans which are my absolute favorite. Love that beany taste!

GGG

Exactly what Thai vegetables are you referring to that you can not find?

GGG

If you browse through the online Evergreen catalog, look for phrases like "tropical", "subtropical", or "summer". For example, if you are looking for baby bok choy, "Tropic Wonder" or "Summer Boy" hybrid Ching Chiang may work.

"Taiwan" ("Formosa"), "Hong Kong" (& "Canton"), and "Southern China" would also be good search terms because all of these are south of Georgia. Taiwan gets hit by hurricanes. In contrast, cultivars from "Korea", "Japan", or "Northern China" may not do as well in summer.

Of course, Thailand is way south of Georgia, and Baker Creek Seeds carries many Thai cultivars.

There are plenty of greens you can grow in your area. It gets to 100 degree temps where I'm at and we still grow vegetables all summer.

What do you think you can't grow?

We have had a couple of plant murders by critters as yet-unseen--the blasted thing just cuts off the head of the plant. My deepest sorrow was for my first ever eggplant--believe it or not, the Eggplant has recovered. It made a new strong branch and already there are two tiny eggplants growing. So now I am using cayenne powder sprinkled everywhere close to the plants and that seems to be working.

I am wild for tatsoi and it has grown well here--I started it in Jan. I grew up in a very deep south part of Texas and I am used to eating strong greens like collards often. Tatsoi is nothing like collards yet the taste is strong--I have yet to get enough of the few tatsoi I have grown and keep eating it raw. yum !!!!

I also like yard long beans but I don't know anything about them--would they grow in a container and what about my extreme heat and dry climate? I do have a fence so I plan to send up some cucumbers and gourds later.

Thanks for this help,
Bee

Bee,

Absolutely! They kick in when normal beans have long since puttered off and keep going until it get's cold. Get's into the 90F and 100F degree area for me and I still get beans. As with most vegetables, they'll go dormant if it gets too hot, usually 96 or above but will start up again when it cools down. You can plant in an area on the east side of the house or other shading structure to provide relief from the afternoon heat of the summer.

Some of the pak choi bolted (that is, sprouted yellow flowers that bloomed) already. The stalks (?) appear very crisp and juicy but they are thin. I see the beginnings of flower stalks growing in the center of the remaining plants. I planted them as small plants in late april. Is there a way to postpone the bolting so that the stalks get larger?

My eggplants and peppers appear healthy but stagnant. I am in zone six. Just last week it got into the 80s for the first time. Is this normal or should they be growing mopre rapidly?

Thanks for your help.

Komatsuna(602hybrid kojisan, Evergreen) Lush healthy pest free. Alas, bland and and uninteresting. A real shame since it held until April before bolting.

Hon-Tsai Tai (Brassica chinensis L, var purpura Makino, Evergreen) Much like the above in growth and slow bolting. Younger leaves good fresh in salads, soups. Not as good as bok choy in stir frys.

Chinese mustard (Brassica juncea, 431,Big Stem, Evergreen) Finicky in my garden like Dai Gai Choy has always been. Short harvest window for optimal juicy stems for such a long maturity. Same note to self as always, sow for a couple of plants every two weeks.

Chinese mustard (Brassica juncea, 105, Bau-Sin, Evergreen)
I had better luck with this one than any other Dai Gai Choy. Very tasty leaves and stems, perfect with steamed lop cheung and spicy curries with coconut cream. Same note to self as above.

Snow peas did well until Feb. Broccoli continues but took out some two year old plants for rotation.

My rototiller broke in April so I have been slow to plant warm season veggies. After manual double digging last month I've finally got some tomatoes up and forming fruit. Anaheim, Fresno, Jalapeno and yolo wonder sweet peppers in. Japanese long eggplants ready to transplant. And bush beans popping up thru the soil. Going to dig some more today and will plant some more baby bok choy (348 Hybrid Mei-Qing-Choi Evergreen) Actually am presently growing and harvesting the same, planted some with the tomatoes knowing they will be gone before the tomatoes really need space. I try to keep a constant supply of bok choy going year round but have trouble from late July thru the end of Sept. Other incidentals growing, chard, chive (chinese flat and reg.) basil, fennel, onions(granex and Stockton red), cilantro.

I have plans for red kuri squash, and Hawaiian papaya.

Jim/San Diego

GGG

If you're wanting to grow greens like lettuces and anything in the cole crop family, you can grow them for two seasons out of the year. Plan for a spring crop and a fall crop. Lettuce is a cool season crop and should be grown at the same time as cabbage, broccoli, etc. It is not just your own location. Lettuce prefers average daily temperatures are between 55F and 70F degrees. So just plan on two crops, one in spring, and one in fall. If you grow the fall crop in a cold frame, you can harvest lettuce well into winter.

If you are looking for warm season Asian Vegetables, try winter melon, bitter melon, (any Asian melon), yard long beans, hundreds of varieties of eggplant, herbs, gourds, soybeans, peppers, etc.

Not too late reefisher, all participation is welcome! Also, there are plenty of methods by which to plant without tilling. You can look into Lasagna Gardening and it is discussed throughout the GW forums. Or you can create raised beds.

jwr6404,

Intriguing! Would love to see pics of your red cukes when they're ready!

GGG

girlgroupgirl,

The "mukchow" you're inquiring about, is also known as Stem Lettuce, Asparagus Lettuce, Celery Lettuce and Chinese Lettuce. It is a member of the Asteraceae (sunflower) family. It is also known as "Yu Mai Tsai" in Chinese.

Latin Names:
Lactuca sativa var. augustana
Lactuca sativa var. asparagina

"Though it has a common name of Celtuce, it is not a cross between Lettuce and Celery. It is just a variety of Lettuce grown for its romaine-like foliage and mainly for its thick, edible stem. The stem grows 6 to 8 inches long and about 1½ inches in diameter. They can be cooked like broccoli and tastes like a cross between a mild summer squash and an artichoke." The leaves are usually not considered edible due to the bitter tasting milky sap that forms soon after it matures. But, as with most produce, the key is in knowing when to harvest.

This Asian vegetable is also known as...
China: gie chia wo tsai, wo tsai, a choy, a tsai, youmaicai, yu mai tsai
India: salad
Indonesia: selada
Japan: chisa, retasu
Malaysia: daun selada
Philippines: letsugas
Sri Lanka: salada
Thailand: phak gadhom, phak salat

If you're interested in Asian Vegetables, browse the Evergreen Seeds Catalog.

What did well for you? What will you not grow again and why? Such a pleasure reading this thread!

Sounds like good eating!

I grew two containers of it. One container bolted fairly quickly (honeybees love the flowers) and the other is still putting out leaves. It didn't stop growing all summer, although the bugs and snails ate it faster than I could. (Dusting it or spraying it with anything wasn't really practical, as watering the plants twice a day or the frequent rain ended up washing off anything I applied.) I will plant a few more seeds soon to see how it does as a cool weather crop.

A ho-hum update on my efforts to get Senposai seed from Fedco. Didn't work! The seed was out of stock so I'll try an order a little earlier next season.

Maruba Santoh was also ordered too late to plant in the Spring. Instead, I waited until just a few weeks ago and got some seed in the ground - - too late!

We've harvested a few messes of Mei Qing Choi that was planted at the same time. The Santoh grows more slowly . . . sheesh! We've had 3 light frosts and now chilly, rainy weather. I guess I may need to be happy with something like a dozen greens I DID get planted in the Spring! But, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the Santoh to prove itself as really hardy and grow just a little more. I really did think that it was the best tasting (certainly mildest) of the greens I grew in 2006. Can't believe it will make it thru to Spring what with our subzero Winter temperatures but I guess I'll know by March!

digital Steve

Wow you've had frosts already? It's still like a steamy jungle in Houston, although we had a "cold" front that made it "only" 89 degrees.

I've only visited Houston twice. Once was at this time of year - it was a steamy jungle, alright! Didn't much mind, quite a city! The other time I was there, it was February - chchchilllly! Dallas/Fort Worth was down-right, frigid.

I have gardens in 3 locations on the Washington/Idaho line not far from the Canadian border. Tends to be arid, which makes for rather broad differences between day & night temperatures - 30 degree drop overnight is common.

I feel that we got about 7 to 10 days extra to the growing season this Fall. Very pleased.

I often order from Evergreen Seeds and discovered Fedco Seeds a couple of years ago and like them a lot. If I don't slip up, I should be able to get the Senposai order in to one/both next year. If they are out, Flip - I will take you up on your kind offer.

Steve

Has anyone grown "Even’Star Land-Race" Tatsoi before? It's another Fedco purchase. I remember buying it because the description said it wasn't the familiar basal rosette growth habit and since I'm so pressed for space, I thought if it's more upright I might be able to squeeze in a few more plants.