<p>This oriental green, also known as Yow Choy, was the hands-down favourite in our 1998 trials for both taste and texture. The glossy, bright green leaves are mild and sweet and wonderful in stir-fries and soups. Harvest whole plant just as buds form or harvest on a cut-and-come-again basis. Approximately three growth flushes per planting. Plants do well in the heat of summer. Plant May onward.</p><p>Because of their rapid growth many oriental greens are susceptible to bolting as the days begin to lengthen and warm up, so plant them as early in the spring as you can work the soil. Many growers prepare the soil late in the previous summer by adding compost and manure, working it in and planting a light cover crop. Early next spring, fork over the cover crop; after a week you will have a ready seed bed. Make the first sowing in March, reseeding if seedlings are lost. Transplants also work well if started in March and set out 3 weeks later. Sow 15 seeds per 30cm (1 ft.), 1cm (1/3 in.) deep and thin to 10-15cm (4-6 in.) when well up. Good nutrition is needed for quick growth. One cup of complete organic fertilizer per 3m (10 ft.) of row, followed by a fine band of fishmeal or high nitrogen fertilizer dug in under the seed row to provide nitrogen and other nutrients. In rainy weather, row covers or cloches help to ensure growth. Fall sowings are excellent for most greens. As the days begin to cool and shorten in August, most oriental greens are right at home. Certain very cold-hardy mustards sown in August will stand all winter. All mustards will grow in winter cloches and frames. <br>DISEASE<br>Practise crop rotation as a general principle of good gardening, and plant these brassicas after potatoes in the cole crop rotation.<br>HARVEST:<br>Cut leaves and stalks as desired. When flowering begins, eat the delicious unopened flowers and the stalks below them.</p>
