Overview
Here in paperback is the indispensable guide for Western gardeners to the Far East's cornucopia 0f amazing vegetables-all full of flavor versatile, and easy to grow.
Whatever your climate or soil type, Joy Larkcom shows how you can grow a whole new world of vegetables. Here are hardy leafy mustards, raab, and komatsuna for temperate climates; Chinese yams and water spinach for the subtropical garden; even ideas for the city container gardener who can succeed the exotic herbs like sesame and ginger.
Based on ten years of research, Oriental Vegetables features over a hundred varieties of crops for ever garden, along the their history and characteristics. Using organic methods and both traditional and modern techniques, Larkcom takes you through each stage of cultivation, helping you avoid pests and diseases, and offering not only tips on harvesting and storage, but also over of her own delicious and innovative recipes.
Includes list of seed outlets and suppliers.
Synopsis
Increasingly, chefs today both professional and amateur are emphasizing fresh, seasonal ingredients, locally and organically grown. Now, in the revised edition of the book Alice Waters of Chez Panisse called indispensable, Joy Larcom presents abundant information about crops that are full of flavor, highly nutritious and easy to grow. She describes over seventy exotic vegetables that can be cultivated regardless of climate, soil type or garden size. Here are hardy leafy mustards, komatsuna, Chinese yams and cabbage, lablab beans, pak choi, the climbing spinach basella, gourds, luffas and many more. For this edition, Larkcom has added new varieties and taken out those which are no longer available. She's updated information on such topics as pest and disease control; and added to the section that offers over 50 recipes for making delicious salads (Chinese Hot Salad), salad dressings (Lemon and Green Onion Dressing), soups (Basic Western Style Greens Soup), pickles (Pickled Mushroom Stems), and other dishes using the vegetables featured in the first section (Azuki Bean Risotto with Watercress and Grilled Tofu, Creamy Artichoke Soup, Duck with Mustard Leaves and Pasta, etc.). The helpful appendices include a glossary of gardening terms, a season/month conversion chart, a growing information chart, plant names, gardening organizations and seed suppliers in the U.S.
Library Journal
Larkcom, a British-based gardener and author of The Salad Garden ( LJ 5/1/84), presents a comprehensive volume on Chinese and Japanese vegetables. Over 100 varieties are listed with information on scientific and Oriental names, general background, cultivation requirements, and use in the kitchen. An additional section focuses on gardening techniques, such as ``cut and come again'' methods and protected cropping. The book concludes with a short collection of simple recipes. The information-dense text is occasionally lightened by high-quality line drawings and several pages of color photographs. The thorough index will be helpful for individuals interested in determining the identity of vegetables found in Oriental markets. As a whole, Oriental Vegetables focuses more on information for the ``garden'' than the ``kitchen,'' and it should be a fine addition for most gardening collections, especially in such areas where interest in Oriental food is high.-- Virginia A. Hen richs, Chicago Botanic Garden Lib., Glencoe, Ill.