My favorite mode of gardening is Wintersowing (FAQs written by Trudi Davidoff, who popularized winter sowing can be found here.) However, last winter was one of our busiest, and I neglected my seed sowing until late February and March. Finally got some seeds started, but then we took a vacation in April and by the time we got back a lot of them had died on me, including some culantro (Vietnamese coriander) that I was hoping to grow this year. I do have some left that I need to plant out (some squashes and a couple of herbs), but I had to get some help quick! Natural Gardening Company to the rescue! I placed my order 2 weeks ago and they came yesterday. Now I’ve got my Thai peppers and Ping Tung Long eggplant, as well as various organic heirloom tomatoes, etc. The great thing about growing these vegetables yourself is #1, you can control the stuff that goes in them (fertilizer, sprays, etc.), and #2, you save money.

Simply Thrifty has more gardening-while-saving-money-tips for you. See this post on bulb swapping. It works not only for flowering bulbs, but others as well — think garlic! Garlic is really easy to grow, especially if you go with the hardneck varieties. Now’s the time to look for people to swap with so that by October/November, or whenever planting time is in your zone, you’ve got your stash ready and you just have to plant those cloves. If you don’t have a local bulb swap to join, look into online swapping. There are seed and plant exchanges at Gardenweb, and you can also look for them at e-lists like YahooGroups.

Simply Thrifty also has tips on what to do with the water in which you blanch your veggies and how to grow your own veggies without spending a fortune.

Time to dig!

Post from: Blisstree

Asian Vegetables in the Garden

These are frozen yard long beans, from my father’s garden. He sent them home with me last time we visited, and the minute we got home I put a large pot of water on the stove to boil. Half of the beans were part of our dinner that night — cooked adobo style, something like this recipe from Pinoy Cook, but with only a fraction of the meat — I guess closer to this one from Karen. The other half was topped, tailed, and broken into 3-inch pieces by the kids. Blanched for 2 minutes in the boiling water, then drained immediately and refreshed briefly in ice water, then drained again — the remaining beans went into a plastic bag, most of the air pressed and suctioned out (my low-tech version of a Food Saver) and frozen. A week later I took them out and put them in a vegetable stew in coconut milk, like the ginataan recipes listed below. They were as good as fresh! Next year I will have my own garden once again and I can grow as much of these as I want!

What to do with yard-long beans? Here is a long list of ideas from my fellow Filipino food bloggers:

• Kalabasa at Sitaw sa Gata (Squash and String beans in Coconut Milk), from Lea Alissa – or try these versions: Mita’s, MarketMan’s, or Myra’s
• Betchay’s Adobong Sitaw with Tofu
• JMom’s Gising-Gising
• KC’s Tocino Fried Rice
• English Patis/Celia’s Pinakbet; here’s Watson’s version, Baby Rambutan’s, and another from Abaseria Cafe
• Lafang/Mike’s Celia’s Gisok (you figure that one out, ok?)
• Bucaio’s Apayas Tan Agyep
• Yax’s Pochero
• Amadeo’s Laswa with Pinakas

Want to learn more about this vegetable? Karen sorts out the Filipino names for us here.
Around the world, here are the names these beans go by.

Post from: Blisstree

Chinese Yard Long Beans

Post from: Blisstree

Park Seed for Asian vegetable and herb seeds

My personal seed exchange list can be found here. It is not an updated list, but if you’re interested in trading with me, feel free to send me an e-mail. This year I am especially interested in growing more Asian herbs and veggies — so if you’ve got some seeds, I’d love to trade with you!

Post from: Blisstree

Asian Herb and Vegetable Garden