When I go grocery shopping and I see vegetables packaged in plastic it stresses me out quite a bit. I’ve stopped going to the local supermarket for this very reason.
Other supermarkets like Sprouts and Whole Foods don’t use as much plastic for their fresh produce but jeeze! – the cost. Whole Foods ain’t cheap (not to mention who they’re owned by).
Nothing’s perfect and everything has a shadow.
I love bok-choy. I cook it in lots of ways – stir-fried with a small amount of ground meat like this …
…or simply with garlic and onions, or in soup, in fried rice (all – yum!). It’s not the cheapest of veggies, though.
So when my cousin told me I could grow bok-choy bases by simply sticking them into the ground, I was doubtful but what did I have to lose. I put them in a shallow platter with just enough water to keep the bottoms wet but not too much to rot them.
This was what I saw….
After about 15 hours, tiny leaves were already popping out. After about 2 days, young green leaves had already pushed their way out.
Transplanting them into soil took less then 3 minutes. They’re not like tomatoes or peas; they don’t need a lot of soil. A few leaves were ready to be picked a week later.
Naturally, with such a tiny harvest, collecting enough leaves for a whole meal (as in the above photo) isn’t possible. But collecting a handful of leaves each day or so means that they can be added for flavor, colour, or texture to fried rice, soup, or as a minor character to a stir-fry, with other veggies playing the lead roles.
This type of harvesting and cooking appeals to me. It feels worthwhile and makes my food feel ‘real’ and more mine.
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