Posted on 03/02/2024 6:26:35 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
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Great looking bok choy.
I tried some last year and it didn’t look so nice.
I started off 16 years ago with three bulbs of California White from one of the local hippie food stores. They were about half the size of the bulb pictured below. I saved back the best bulbs for planting and now almost every bulb comes out near the size of a baseball.
Mine are still babies. I'm worried about the wind with those skinny single stems out of the ground. Guess I'll just bury them a little deeper when planting out. I've kept the lights within 2-3" of the plants and have plenty of lumens and they're on for 14 hours a day so I'm thinking if I had sowed them a little deeper it would have made a difference. As can be seen in the bottom pic, they're not leggy plants overall.
I'm going to plant a few more and sow them 3/8 to 1/2 inch instead of the recommended 1/4 inch and see what happens. Meanwhile when I plant these out, I'll bury them up to the base of the stocks.
Found one website that says;
Most common garden vegetables don’t mind if you bury their stem part way or all the way up to their first set of true leaves (or first set of lateral branches). You can do this with peppers and members of the brassica family: kale, collard greens, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, or cauliflower.
If the vegetable is one that should normally form a head or bulb right at the soil line, then you’ll want to bury it up to that point – where the stem branches and begins to form the main crop, so that its weight will be supported on the soil surface. Consider a head of lettuce, bok choy, cabbage, or kohlrabi for example.
Since that's the answer I'm looking for, I'm going with it. LOL
Not much more than what you do for planting your rows.
digging the trenches is a lot of work, but adding the bone meal and fertilizer etc isn’t.
Then I bury them as as I do a row, I put down landscape fabric and do the next one.
It’s such an easy way to keep the weeds down.
Noted on all. I thought the issue with lettuce was that it needs some light to germinate properly?
Drying has not been an issue — the top of the seed starter media / “soil”* stays slightly moist with only moderate attention, although TODAY I’d better check twice as we’ll be very windy and warm. The fire danger is up to moderate until t’storms arrive this evening. The (good chance of severe) t’storms are a reason to bring the seeded containers in anyway - despite the porosity of the starter media, heavy rain could flood containers and / or definitely disrupt the seedings. Hail would be even more fun, along with any really high winds...
This weekend I carted out the over-wintered lemongrass, and some onions, which are in fairly heavy pots. They will just have to take their chances.
*These seed starter media are apparently “modified” to retain moisture. I’ve had problems with it staying TOO moist in the past, but have adjusted... I think...
I’ve never used heat mats, but maybe I’ll give a couple a try. Even the cheapies on Amazon seem to get good ratings.
Bok choy is a given in Asian cuisine. A simple skillet method produces
beautiful caramelized edges and crisp-tender stalks in a tantalizing sauce.
INGREDIENTS 1 pound baby bok choy SAUCE 2 tablespoons less sodium soy sauce 1 tablespoons water 1 tablespoon rice vinegar 1 tablespoon Asian sweet chili sauce 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil 2-3 cloves garlic, minced 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger 1/8-1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
INSTRUCTIONS Whisk the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl; set aside. Place the bok choy in a colander and rinse with cold water, rubbing any grit or dirt from between the leaves; pat dry with a kitchen towel or paper towels. Cut each bok choy in half lengthwise. Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the bok choy in a single layer cut side down and cook without stirring until the bottoms start to brown, 2 min. W/ tongs, flip over and cook until the stalks begin to soften but still have some crunch (the leaves will wilt), 2 min. Transfer to a plate. Reduce heat to medium-low and add the sauce to the skillet. Simmer 30 sec til slightly thickened whisking constantly (don’t burn the garlic!). Add bok choy back to the skillet and turn with tongs until the sauce glazes each bok choy halve. Transfer to server and garnish with sesame seeds. Serve immediately.
TIPS FOR BOK CHOY RECIPE Ginger: substitute fresh ginger with a heaping ½ teaspoon ground ginger and add it directly to the sauce. Garlic: can use heaping ½ teaspoon garlic powder and add it directly to the sauce. Asian sweet chili sauce substitute: 1 teaspoon brown sugar and additional red pepper flakes added to regular Asian Chili Sauce.
Thoroughly wash bok choy or else you’ll end up with grit in your recipe. Thoroughly dry bok choy so it can caramelize and doesn’t just steam. Use a nonstick skillet so the sauce doesn’t stick to the pan and burn. Press bok choy down with tongs to ensure it makes contact with the skillet. It’s okay if the leaves of the bok choy don’t lay in the pan and go up the sides because they take less time cook than the stalks.The cooking time depends on how tender you want the stalks and wilted you want the leaves. Don’t overcook the sauce or the garlic can burn and make the sauce bitter. This bok choy recipe is best served warm. STORING AND REHEATING THE LEFTOVERS Storage: Leftover cooked bok choy can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days. The leftover stalks will be tasty but the greens can become mushy. Reheat bok choy in skillet over med-low just til warmed through.
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