Very nice reference. But not a complete one.

1. Bitter melon, and many other types of melon.

2. Sweet potato greens.

3. White chives.

4. Many kinds of string beans.

5. Many kinds of squashes.

6. Bamboo shoots.

7. lotus roots.

8. snow peas

9. Water chest nuts.

There are many more I have seen and eaten, but not knowing their names.

BTW, Malabar Spinach can be slimy like okra.

dcarch

thanks, jkom. I spent the day planting my garden, including a package of mizuna which was given to me and which I had no idea about. But hey, it's seeds, so I must plant them. (grin)

Now I know that it's less bitter than mustard greens, at least!

Annie

I usually grow Tatsoi, but this spring I also sowed two I had never heard of--Bekana and Mizpoona. Both are delicious and I use all three along with lettuces for salads as well as for stirfries. Mild mustard flavor.

I also grow Gailan, which is harvested and cooked like broccoli raab but lacks the strong mustard taste; it tastes like the sweetest broccoli. It's a great green, and so easy from direct sow that I no longer start broccoli plants in the house.

Mizuna is a wonderful salad green. Best picked when very young, though.

Gai Lan is not sweet; it's bitter, actually. Best grown in cool weather/cool soil which reduces the bitterness. Here in CA you see much less of it from mid-May through end of September, due to the hot summers in the Central Valley. The only Gai Lan acceptable in Asian markets during summer are from the farms close to the coast where daytime temps average 64-68 degrees. As you sure you're growing Brassica oleracea, laceyvail, or are you just harvesting it while very young? If very young I could agree that it's much less bitter, in that case.

I was introduced to Gai Lan by my in-laws, who are from Hong Kong. 40 yrs ago very few farms were growing it so it was the most prized winter vegetable to order at our favorite Cantonese restaurants. Once it got into early summer, we had to ask if the kitchen still had any -- they stopped buying it in summer and subbed either bok choy, Shanghai choy, or American broccoli (no rabe or broccolini back in those days either, LOL!).

I also planted broccoli raab, which I've never seen here and have never tasted, so that should be interesting, as well as pac choi, which I like because our summers are short but hot and most bok choi bolts nearly immediately.

I think I'd have the same issue with Gai Lan, it went from snowing last Saturday to 87F this Saturday and the stuff wouldn't even get to come up before it was hot weather. It's also why I plant kale and swiss chard instead of spinach.

Annie

Well, I've sown Gai lan for three years--the first seeds were solely from Johnny's Selected Seeds. I sow it in early April, sometimes under a little plastic tent. This year I've got seed from Johnny's and from Fedco. The two cultivars are Happy Rich and Green Lance. My Gai lan has never been bitter, so I'm baffled. I do cut it while young, but I cut it several times until I finally let it go because so much else is starting to come in.

When I was teaching ESL, had a student bring me in a bunch of what she called "leeks" from her garden. Looked very different from supermarket leeks. Resembled chives but flat, not tubular. Very oniony/garlicky... was told use anyhere I'd use onions or garlic... cooked or raw.

The leeks sound like what I know as Chinese garlic chives-- they grow in a bunch like leeks and bloom with white stars towrds the end of summer. Very nice allium.

Re Gail lan again. Last night I made a galette using a large quantity of Gai lan. As has been my experience with this green, it was sweet and delicious. Over the last 3 years of growing it, none of the varieties I've grown from Johnny's or Fedco has been bitter. Very strange indeed.