Tong Ho Choy (Garland Chrysanthemum)

Tong Ho is an edible garland chrysanthemum, is one of the most popular vegetables in Europe and has become very popular recently in Asia too. Oriental love this leafy variety for its unqiue flavor and taste. Plants are very vigorous and are easy to grow. Pick young leaves for the best eating quality, excellent for salad and stir-fry. This unique vegetable has been considered as a healthy vegetable by Oriental, good for eyes and vision care. This broad leaf variety with thick leaves and slightly serrated can grow very well in slightly cool climates. It has a milder flavor than the small serrated leaf variety, but their Chrysanthemum essence does get stronger with maturity.

Tong Ho is both an herbal medicine and a cooked vegetable. Leaves and stems have a slightly succulent texture and a distinct and pleasant but not strong flavor, which becomes stronger with plant age.


How to grow
Tong Ho is an easy and weather-tolerant plant, which prefers coolish conditions. Some varieties can tolerate even 0 ℃. However the optimal growth temperature is around 20℃. Below 12℃ and over 29℃, it grows slowly and poorly. It grows well and vigorously mild and slightly climates. The leaves and stems are ready for harvest one to two months after the seeds are sown. It can be grown all the year round depending upon temperature. In Florida, the seeds can be sown in late fall through spring. In some areas, mulching is recommended.

Direct sowing is a common practice. However, keeping soil moist is important for good germination. Note: too much water is no good for germination either. For summer and early fall sowing, make sure to overshadow to keep them from direct sunlight and high temperature. Normally you can get good germination about one week after direct sowing. To commercial growers, direct sowing can be 12 Kg (26 lbs) per acre for row cropping. For gardening, plant density can be 16x10cm(6 3/10"x4").

In spring sowing, in order to promote and speed germination, seeds can be soaked in water for about 24 hours, then keep them at 15-20℃ for germination. They are ready for sowing when "white tips" appear.

When the plants reach up to 10 cm (4") tall, more nitrogenous fertilizer is recommended.

In most cases, Tong Ho is disease tolerant to certain extent in normal condition and no need to use pesticide and other chemicals. However under humid and high temperature condition, some chemicals e.g. fungicide has to be sprayed.

Harvest and storage
Tong Ho like most Oriental vegetables must be harvested when young. Generally, when the plant reaches up to 20 cm tall, it can be harvested. You may harvest the second time if you cut the stem 2-3 cm above the soil and let it grow for another one or two months ( in most cases, it should be fertilizer after the first cut).

Cooking information
Leaves and stems can be eaten raw in salad or cooked like stir-fried or used in soups. Whether used in salad or cooked, they should be young, fresh and green, free of yellowing, wilting and the stems should be very crisp. Cook only briefly (like spinach) whether boiled or stir-fried. When it is flowering or has sign offlowering, the leaves and stems become bitter and fibrous. The leaves are usually blanched briefly to soften them and deepen their color, but young leaves can be served raw. Add them to cooked dishes at the last minute, as they become bitter if overcooked.

Nutrition info
Tong Ho is a useful source of potassium, with some vitamin C and dietary fibre

Miniature Bottle Gourd

This variety produces miniature size bottle gourds, that are widely used for making decorative gourds. This vine plant is very vigorous in warm climates and is often grown along trellis and fences in the subtropical Orient.
This miniature bottle shaped fruit grows 1' in length, and is used as a container or as decoration after the fruit has dried and the seeds have been removed. The plant requires a long and warm growing season.

* Maturity: Approx. 95 days
* Planting season: Late spring to early summer

Green Edible Bottle Gourd

This edible bottle gourd or white-flowered gourd is the standrad OPO gourd seen and sold in most Oriental markets on the west coast. Fruits are light green, bat-shaped of 10-12 inches long and 3-4 inches across. Young fruits are sweet and delicious, harvest fruit before it matures to retain its tenderness. It is good for stir-fry with shrimp and add to a soup. Plants grow vigorously in warm climates, starting to set fruits in 45 days after the transplanting. Easy to grow. This variety is very popular in Southern China and Taiwan.

Planting season: Late spring to early summer

Tatsoi / Rosette Pak Choy

Tatsoi (Brassica rapa var. rosularis), also called spinach mustard, spoon mustard, or rosette bok choy, is an Asian variety of Brassica rapa grown for greens. This plant has become popular in North American cuisine as well, and is now grown throughout the world.

The plant has dark green spoon-shaped leaves which form a thick rosette. It has a soft creamy texture and has a subtle yet distinctive flavour.

It takes 45-50 days to harvest and can withstand temperatures down to -9.4 degrees C (15 degrees F). Tatsoi can be harvested even from under the snow, making it one of the best vegetables to grow in a cool climate.

How to grow
This vegetable is strongly resistant to cold weather. Seeds are sown from spring through fall. This is a vegetable with unique appearance - spoon shaped dark green leaves arranged in a rosette of concentric circles. Stalks are short and plants grow relatively slower than other Pak Choy varieties. Young leaves are very delicious. Plants can be harvested anytime during the growth.

Cooking information
Leaves can be eaten raw or cooked. The leaves are tougher and stronger flavoured than standard pak choy and hence many prefer cooked (stir-fried, steamed or in soups) rather than raw. Young leaves can be used in salad.

Nutrition information
Tatsoi is very high in calcium and vitamins and is twice as nutritious and twice as delicious as ordinairy Bok Choy.

Edible Whole Red Amaranth

This is a unique edible amaranth widely grown in Vietnam and Southeastern Asia. The plant has red leaves, deep red stems, upright and tall type plants grow vigorously in hot weather, suitable for growing all year round in subtropical and tropical areas.

Fast growing vegetable can be harvested 30 days after sowing. Young leaves and stems can be harvested for cooking at any growing stage. Young leaves and tips are very tender and delicious, excellent for salads and stir-fry. Beautiful plants are also good for container or backyard growing as oranmental plants. Easy to grow.

Phyllanthus niruri 叶下珠

Commonly known as stonebreaker because of its strong roots, Phyllanthus Niruri is an herb that grows in tropical areas like the rain forests of the Amazon, Bahamas, China and Southern India. It can reach 30-60 centimeters in height and when in bloom displays an array of yellow flowers. It grows freely like a weed spreading abundantly. All parts of the plant exhibit medicinal properties. It is used medically as a diuretic and an astringent.In drier climates like Brazil, India, Florida, and Texas, Phyllanthus amarus and Phyllanthus sellowianus grows. They are similar in appearance and medical application to Phyllanthus Niruri.

Phyllanthus niruri has a long history in herbal medicine systems world wide. The whole plant and its aerial parts are used for many remedies, mostly biliary and urinary. Some examples are kidney and gallbladder stones, hepatitis, colds, flu, tuberculosis, and other viral infections. It has also been proven effective in liver diseases like jaundice and liver cancer. It is sometimes used for bacterial infections such as cystitis, prostatitis, venereal diseases, and urinary tract infections. It can also assist in reducing anemia symptoms, diabetes and hypertension. It is well known for its diuretic, analgesic, stomachic, antispasmodic, febrifugal, and cell protective properties. Phyllanthus may help decrease the amount of hepatitis B virus found in the blood stream. Phyllanthus urinaria is more effective medicinally than the variety Phyllanthus amarus.

Peperomia pellucida 草胡椒

Herbs , annual or short-lived perennial, erect or decumbent, freely branched, 10-50 cm, glabrous, without black, glandular dots. Leaves alternate; petiole ca. 1/2 length of blade, glabrous. Leaf blade palmately 5-7-veined, broadly ovate to deltate, 0.6-4 × 0.5-3 cm, base truncate, rounded, or cordate, apex acute to slightly acuminate; surfaces glabrous. Spikes axillary, terminal, and opposite leaves, solitary, rarely 2-more, loosely flowered, 2-6 cm, mature fruiting spikes 1-2 mm diam. Fruits sessile, very broadly ovoid to globose, 0.5-0.7 × 0.4-0.5 mm, longitudinally ribbed with ladderlike reticulations; beak minute, conic, ca. 0.1 mm.

Flowering all year. In shaded woods and around nurseries and greenhouses, along coastal plain; 0-20 m; Fla., Ga., La.; Mexico; West Indies; Central America; n South America.

Peperomia pellucida has shown antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus , Bacillus subtilis , Pseudomonas aeruginosa , and Escherichia coli ; it could have potential as a broad spectrum antibiotic