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Home Grown: Mache, Mizuna, and Miyashige
| Article
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13976 |
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Section : |
LIFE
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| Issue
Date : |
2 / 1988 |
1,396 Words |
| Author
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Walter Chandoha
Walter Chandoha's pictures and articles have appeared in many
major magazines; and he has also written and illustrated
twenty-four books. |
You won't find mache, mizuna, or miyashige radishes on the menu at your local restaurant, nor are these vegetables sold in most supermarkets--not yet! However, as Americans travel and sample exotic produce abroad, they return home with an appetite for the unusual.
In the homegrown market, garden catalogs are now offering Egyptian onions, elephant garlic, and purple kohlrabi. Although "new" sounding, there is nothing new about them; they've been grown and eaten abroad for centuries.
Like all garden vegetables, these unusual varieties thrive in a loose, easy-draining soil, rich in humus. All gardens can be improved by adding humus-making organic matter like peat moss, leaf mold, compost or rotted manure. Scatter two to four inches of the organic compound over the garden bed (more if you have clay or sandy soil), then for each 100 square feet of area add a pound of ground limestone (omit if your soil is alkaline) and two handfuls of an all-purpose fertilizer like 5-10-5. Blend all ingredients to a depth of six to ten inches. Rake smooth and you're ready to plant.
After planting, water thoroughly. Thereafter, the growing plants need about an inch of water weekly--if there's no rain, use the garden hose. When the weather warms, mulch plants with something organic: grass clippings, chopped leaves, salt hay, or whatever is readily available locally. The mulch suppresses weeds, keeps roots cool and moist, and eventually decomposes, adding more humus to the soil.
Exotic vegetable
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