What Southeast Asian herbs are you growing?

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Permalink Reply by Kate on June 15, 2009 at 4:58pm

That is my all time favourite Asian Vegetable book Maxine. It has all the names for things so you know if one thing is the same as another or not. It has how to grow them and eat them and Joy has spent a lifetime travelling and growing and researching Asian vegetables.

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Permalink Reply by John Walker on June 15, 2009 at 2:26pm

I've tried two times to start shiso, with seed from kitchengardenseeds. I was told that they can be difficult to grow.
Any ideas.
I started a third lot yesterday, we shall see.
pax
John

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Permalink Reply by Maggie on June 15, 2009 at 5:12pm

HI John I grow shiso . Shiso is a beautiful herb.
I first bought a red shiso plant and a green shiso plant. They grew well along side the tomatoes and basil. I let them go to seed and now they just reappear each year in that part of the garden.
This year green shiso did not grow. The man who I buy Asian herbs from said he was having trouble this year growing green shiso.
I dont have Joy Larkins book but I think I shall get it.
We keep shade cloth over our summer garden otherwise everything would cook when it gets to 40 degrees celcius or over.

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Permalink Reply by Heather Wood on June 15, 2009 at 10:31pm

Shiso grows like a weed for me here in New Mexico, US, which makes me wonder if drainage or pH could be the vital factor (we're very high altitude, alkaline, and dry here.) Any chance that wet feet might be the problem? I hasten to add that this is based on no knowledge whatsoever of the conditions favored by shiso; it grows so well here that I've never bothered to study its needs ;-).

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Permalink Reply by Maggie on June 16, 2009 at 7:50am

Well that is interesting, we are probably watering too much, I shall try it in a drier space.

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Permalink Reply by Kate on June 15, 2009 at 4:55pm

Hi Heather. I live near Maggie and grow what she grows! Maggie knows a lot about .....well, everything! Any way I grow several Asian water vegetables in large tubs. Entsai, or water spinach, is a very successful one and I just buy a bunch of fresh leaves and stems from the shop, cut the top 75% off and eat it and put the bottom of the stems in a vase. Within a week the roots begin to develop and once it is robust I plant it into rich compost in one of the tubs. At this stage I just keep the soil very moist and as it grows in height, I begin to fill the tub with water. I regularly pick the leaves all summer and it is one of my favourite leaf and stem vegetables. The stems are gorgeously crisp and not at all stringy and the leaves have a mild spinachy flavour, not a distinctive Asian flavour. It never goes to seed before it dies back in late autumn as I suppose it is too cold here.
I also grow water chestnuts, watercress and taro and I am on the look out for more edible water vegetables and herbs which tend to be Asian but I am not fussy where they come from.
A water garden is a lovely thing to have in our dry climate and by covering the surface in a creeping, green cover plant. such as azola, it keeps the evaporation down, the water clear and the mosquitoes out.

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Permalink Reply by Heather Wood on June 15, 2009 at 8:02pm

HI, Kate, I was hoping that you'd show up! Have you tried growing ngo om, rice paddy herb, in your water garden? I just got some from our Asian grocery and am trying to root it.

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Permalink Reply by christine braganza on June 17, 2009 at 3:51pm

Hello Heather

I've just moved two tamarind trees (5 years old) from pots to canyon very successfully. The new leaves have just sprouted. I'm hoping that they will produce flowers this year (they did produce a few last year). I don't think the weather is hot enough on the coast for fruit to develop. It's really easy to grow tamarind from seed and the plants are very hardy and will do well as pot plants. My mother lives in Canada and has a 20+ year old tree in a pot. Her 'caged' zebra finches love it too!! Another great plus to growing tamarind - because it is leguminous, anything that you grow from seed in the same soil does really well.
I've not had any success with growing curry leaf trees, although I've tried twice, having bought the seedlings from Little India. Probably, the coastal weather is not suitable.

I've also grown a few Jamun fruit plants (Syzygium cumini) from seed. I believe they are great as a hedge but although a few years old, they are still quite small. Lemon grass grows very easily here in Southern California. My mango tree (als from seed) has its first flowers at five years.

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Permalink Reply by John Walker on August 27, 2009 at 2:27pm

I tried to grow shiso but could never get it to germinate.
Any hints or did I just get bad seed?
pax
John

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Permalink Reply by Maggie on August 27, 2009 at 6:02pm

We have some red shiso coming up from seeds we saved. The green shiso has not appeared yet.
We also have some red shiso appearing around the garden. The green shiso is milder in flavour. If our seeds don't germinate I shall buy a couple of green shiso and save the seed.
I remember green shiso wilted easily, the red seems to be pretty hardy and I lovely looking plant in the garden, I grow it near the tomatoes which helps shade it.

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