I grew some dwarf pak choi this past spring. I planted it pretty early, not sure of the date would have to look it up. I planted it at the same time that I planted my kale and collards, under row cover. The dwarf ones are so cute. They also grow really fast so you may want to grow some dwarf kinds. Then you can experiment early with how to cook it. I did have big problems with slugs eating my first planting toward the end. Then I believe that my second planting got completely destroyed by flea beetles. Had a very bad flea beetle problems last year. It is one of the main reasons why I really wanted to get up a hoop house, to control the flea beetles. Wish I could suggest how much you could sell them for but I never got that far since I had problems. But it is definitely something I would like to be able to sell in the future, something worth working on.

I am sure someone else with more knowledge will help out here. I have used it for years in stir fry. It is mild with just a hint of mustard. It also does real well in a steamed medley. I have some growing under lights in my kitchen right now but I have always purchased mine at the food market. The cost is like romaine lettuce or nappa cabbage. I to will be trying it in the garden come spring and would like some answers also

Curt :-).

i like to grow and eat the baby boks. Pretty fast days to harvest, keeps a few weeks in the ground and are pretty versatile to prepare. Seems like there might be a restaurant market?
Stir fry is always good, especially with noodles. Can be thinly sliced (like slaw), dressed and topped with crunchy lo mein noodles which is one of our favorite preparations. Also makes an elegant side dish simply sliced in half lengthwise and braised.
Curt described the taste pretty well. It also has a nice soft crunchy texture.

Several years ago when I was selling at our local farmer's market, I had a lot of success selling the "baby" pak choy. It was especially popular with our large Asian population as were most of the baby vegetables I sold.

Hi Jay

I love tatsoi! and I use like I would spinach, in salads or cooked. It is pretty, with its upright growth. The trick is to pick it when young, later on can get buggy.

Tatsoi that I am growing now

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Tatsoi salad

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Silvia

Bok choi is pretty easy to grow,it is chinese cabbage. You can eat the stalks and the leaves.
You can start it indoors and transplant outside or sow outside. It is a fall crop too.

Silvia,
That Tatsoi looks great! I looks like a spinach. I think that would sell, even if people don't know what it is.

Thanks!

I've had good success with a number of varieties of bok choy, especially the baby bok choys. On the recommendation of another GW member I grew Mei-Qing-Choi, which I thought was excellent. It's a Shanghai type -- medium sized with pale green stalks. It has good flavor and does not bolt readily.

Evergreen Seeds has a large selection of bok choys.

Jim

Here is a link that might be useful: Evergreen Seeds

I've grown Bok choy for a few years now. We eat it in stir-fries or as a side veggie, sliced up, sauted in a little oil with garlic and a splash of fish sauce. The Wednesday Chef blog recently trialled a great recipe by mark bittman for Bok choy with Shiitake Mushrooms and Oyster Sauce. Yum! It's mild in flavour and cooks very quickly.

It's also super easy and quick to grow. I sow in punnets/seed trays and transplant mine. The only things to watch for are a tendancy to bolt when sown in spring (so sow after the solstice), and of course those pesky cabbage butterflies like to lay their eggs on it, so use Bt or net your crop if you're growing it in warm weather.

I grow it mainly as an autumn & winter crop. With your high tunnels you might be able to grow it well into the winter there in Kansas.

Hope this helps - it really is a great veggie and a very reliable crop!

Tracey

I usually go to the organic market and quiz the produce guys on how to cook something. I buy and taste the vege before I try to grow it.
I'm not sure if you have organic markets in KS, I didn't see any last time I visited , but that was several years ago.
You can also ask on a cooking board such as Reluctantgourmet.com how to cook something and will get many responses!

This winter, I'm trying every green I can get my hands on to see which ones I really like, and bok choi is a winner hands down. Here's a picture taken a couple weeks ago. The one that's already bolting I've since harvested, along with a couple others that were beginning to.

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I'll definitely be growing much more of it in the years to come. So far, I've made a yummy shrimp stir fry with oyster sauce and fish sauce ~ fabulous. And one of my roommates made a cabbage soup with sausage ~ also wonderful.

Down here in Central Texas, we grow all the brassicas, green peas, lettuce, etc., through the winter since it's just too hot to do it in summer. My bok choi went through the coldest time we've had so far, 14 degrees overnight, without a hiccup. I only covered it with heavy row cover laid right on top of it since I hadn't had time to build a tunnel frame. I'm thinking since it's still bolting right now, that the head groundsman at work was right in saying it's one of the hardier veggies ~ if it bolts in 50-60 degree days, it must be able to take some prolonged cold. So I agree with the other poster who said you could probably grow it in your zone farther into winter than normal in a hoop house.

THANK YOU ALL! I appreciate all your postings and suggestions. It looks like it is pretty easy to grow and I will be putting some in this spring. I am growing one of my high tunnel full greens and cold tolerant vegetables. I am hoping to have some things to sell at the early market of April 24th. I think I may have found some winners.

I am looking at a Bok Choy, Joi Choi, and a dwarf or Toy Choi. I also am looking at a red choi. I think I will dedicate at least one bed for each. I hope this will be good. Each bed is going to be 4 by 8. As one bed is cleared out, I am going to replant asap with the seedlings that I will be starting.

JR what are the other 9 lesser known vegetables that are being promoted?

Let us know what you think about the red choy, i'm still on the fence with that one.

The program is called Savor the Season. It is suppose to encourage the use of these lesser known produce items. These items were voted on by farmers market vendors and managers.

* Salad Mix
* Napa Cabbage
* Bok Choy
* Beans
* Okra
* Cantaloupe
* Heirloom Tomatoes
* Eggplant
* Sweet Potatoes
* Swiss Chard
* Acorn Squash
Thanks for asking.

Jay

Jay,
I grew baby bok choi two years ago here on the Western edge of Wyandotte County and it did well. I ordered several varieties from Evergreen seed. Because we have hot summers as you know, that will often go weeks without rain, I had a variety that was rated for growing all year and was heat resistant. The only problem I had was with the typical cabbage worms and maybe some flea beetles so I will use floating row covers in the future. I know I could us Bt but that won't work on flea beetles, I don't think. The baby bok choy were great for spring too. I like them chopped up in stir fries and you can add them to soups like you would cabbage, kale or greens. They are also good stir-fried by themselves with some onion, soy sauce, a dab of fish sauce and some garlic.

I grew several types of salad mix that people seemed to like. They liked the Mesclun mixes. I had a French mix and an Italian mix I found at the Grass Pad in Kansas City.

I grew red chard and regular Lucullus chard. It did not sell well and I started putting recipes out with it. Also, the red was so productive I would give out samples of it with instructions on how to prepare it. This is a great food because it is high in iron and calcium My sister, who is a breast cancer survivor says her nutritionist highly recommends chard due to its high phytochemical content. Kansas City has a good okra market because a lot of our population is either from the South or has close ties to the South and so most of us have been used to eating or at least seeing okra. Heirloom tomatoes are still getting more popular but I'm surprised how many people are still scared of an orange or a yellow tomato. You're not far from Ft. Riley so you may have a market amongst some of the Asian population there in Junction City and surrounding.

This message is for Silvia. I love Tatsoi green and I was wondering if you would share your Tatsoi Salad Recipe with me as your photograph looks delicious.

Thank you so much.
Moira