Edamame soy beans in bowls. (C) Studio 2013/Adobe Stock
If your food tastes veer toward Asian, there are several easy-to-grow vegetables and herbs to try in a pot or garden.
First up is cilantro, a stable in Vietnamese and Thai dishes. It’s very easy to grow from seed. In fact, if you want to have cilantro all summer long, seed is about the only way to go.
Buy a couple of plants now and harvest the leaves as needed. But after the weather starts to heat up, usually by mid to late June, cilantro goes to seed, called bolting. The seeds are called coriander and can be dried for the spice or sown for a new crop of cilantro. You can also buy a packet of seeds and sow those every two to three weeks beginning now to keep a steady flow of cilantro. Grow cilantro in full sun. The soil should be moist but not wet.
Siam Queen basil can be grow in the Indiana garden or in pots. This basil was a 1997 All-America Selections winner. Photo courtesy All-America Selections.
Thai basil not only tastes good, it’s a gorgeous plant in the garden or in a pot. Sow seed or buy transplants. Grow in full sun and moist soil. Harvest stems as needed and pinch off flowers (which are edible) to extend the harvest. All basils are very cold sensitive, so wait until night time temperatures do not drop below 50 degrees.
Mizuna, also known as Japanese mustard, frequently found in seed mixes of lettuce greens and mescluns, also is sold in individual seed packets. Mizuna, which can be green or red, is mild to pungent tasting. The edible flowers have a mustard flavor. Sow seed every few weeks from spring into fall. Grow in full sun to part shade and keep plants evenly moist to bitterness. Use mizuna in stir fry or mix in with a green salad.
Tatsoi is sweeter and milder than other Asian greens. It can be sown from seed in spring or fall for a tasty ingredient for stir fry and salads. Sow seeds in full sun and keep tatsoi well watered. This green benefits from a periodic side dressing of a nitrogen fertilizer or a water-soluble fertilizer.
Edamame, immature soy beans, is still the rage for foodies and can be grown just as you would green beans. Rabbits like edamame as much as humans, so be on guard. Sow seeds beginning mid May every two weeks or so for a season-long harvest. Grow in full sun and water regularly. Harvest the pods, blanch them, then remove the beans. Use in salads or eat the beans fresh.
