...so, ask away!

Mary-Anne

Also thanks for the info on Japanese seeds in the US, that is unfortunately not something I can help with.

I was wondering if you had any more links to pictures or information on cultivation methods and crops cultivars grown in Japan. Something along the lines of what you posted in the Yubari melon thread would be great. I am especially interested in the cultivation methods and cultivars of Tomatoes, Eggplants, Melons, Squash, Fresh Eating beans, sweet potato, Fruits, yasai but any vegetable would be fine.

Thanks,

This is in the cabbage family, not sweet and not bitter. One of the favorites in that family in Asian cuisine.

Recipes for you.

Gai Laan (often spelled Kai Laan, and called Chinese Broccoli and Chinese Sprouting Broccoli, among other attempts to create a European name) is one of our favorite vegetables and I'd guess would grow very well in Ireland --once you work out the proper season! It is a winter crop here, and gets tough and bolts when the days are lengthening AND the temperature gets into the 100s (F) --not likely to be an Irish problem. California has a wonderful Asian seed source, EvergreenYH (http://www.evergreenseeds.com/), which carries several varieties in nice large packets. The difference between the varieties didn't seem to be very great --they all produced well, they all tasted good, and they all began to make flowering stalks at about the same time when planted in early September.

The flowering stalks are the part Kailaan is grown for commercially, but the leafy thinnings are delicious also. The stalks are quite long, with a shiny outside skin and very sweet, succulent interior. When they grow fairly slowly (cool weather?) they are thicker; as the weather warms the outside skin becomes fibrous --but it's very easy to peel.

My suggestion would be to plant in spring, and if the Kailaan bolts quickly, with tough skinny stems, try another planting in midsummer, or perhaps even May, so the main growth time is when days are shortening. It will take some frost --if you can protect it you could try a fall planting, though it's a bit late now, I'd think.

The dark green leaves and loosely clustered flower buds (only a few per cluster) add a different texture and flavor to the stalks. We like our Kailaan more or less braised --started with a very quick toss in a little oil, to coat the stalks lightly, finished under cover with a little water or chicken broth, then dressed at serving time with a few drops of soy sauce. It is very good steamed, too.

Another vegetable you might like to try is Komatsuna. Same season, but mine seemed less sensitive to day length. Komatsuna has very large, shiny dark green leaves with a sweet, succulent midrib. It is a brassica but not like any other I've grown. The leaves are smooth and thin, not like a cabbage or a mustard, and the flavor is not very mustardy. Just a few plants fed us two or three meals a week for months --two or three leaves made a dish for the two of us, and you can pick from the same plant again and again. Eventually the ribs started to get tough, so I stripped the leafy part, and when it began to bolt the flower stalks were very good too, and produced for quite a long time. The bases of the flower stalks needed peeling eventually --very easy, like kailaan, no trying to peel between knots and branches as when peeling broccoli stems.

We have fond memories of Ireland and the great root vegetables the landladies at the farmhouse inns served. It was spring --around Easter-- and possibly just what was left by that time.

Oh also, in 2000 I serendipitously came into some seeds for sansho / Zanthoxylum piperitum. They overwintered and germinated beautifully. However, all seven or so tiny plants succumbed to some sort of unstoppable ailment. I believe it may have had something to do with the soil (which no, I did not keep overmoist) or with an extreme sensitivity to being transplanted. Does sansho have any special problems with being transplanted, any special requirements like mycorrhizal fungi (I thought that since it's related to citrus it might need a similar soil organism), or any special deadly enemies, common pathogens? Any soil components or environmental conditions it is especially sensitive to? I can't tell you how bummed I am to have lost these plants, despite all manner of desperate attempts to save the day.

Best - exop

First, I've read that rice is cultivated as far north as 52 degrees latitude. What varieties are cultivated this far north and would they grow and be harvestable in the south of England?

Second, Soybean is widely farmed as a fodder crop. Do these varieties differ from those grown for the edible bean? I am looking for a Soybean variety that can be grown for the bean here in England.

Thanks & let me know if I can give help on conditions here.

I ended up ordering two packets from Horizon Herbs (20 seeds each) at just under $10 per packet.