081 Unusual Tasty Vegetables. Insectary Plants. Forsythia

If you want to expand your vegetable garden palate this year, this is the episode for you. We talk about vegetable varieties that are tasty, but unappreciated. Broccolini, radicchio, Malabar spinach, Joi Choi, moringa,  and much more. Do your garden plans include insectary plants? Those are annuals, perennials and shrubs that attract pollinators and beneficial insects that can battle the bad bugs in your garden, without any chemical help from you. And the Plant of the Week is that cascading fountain of  yellow color of late winter and early spring, the forsythia.

It’s Episode 81 of the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast, brought to you by Smart Pots. And we will do it all in under 30 minutes.…let’s go!

Pictured: Malabar spinach, unlike many greens, thrives in the heat. And, it will need a trellis.

Links:
Fair Oaks Blvd Nursery
Aspabroc Broccolini
Radicchio
Malabar Spinach
Joi Choi
Moringa
Pollinator-friendly plant lists state by state (Xerces Society)
Insectary Plants Information
Forsythia
UC Davis Arboretum
Smart Pots

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Transcript

GB 081 Unusual Vegs, insectary Plants 2815

SPEAKERS

Quentyn Young, Rachael Long, Warren Roberts, Farmer Fred

Farmer Fred  00:00

Garden Basics with Farmer Fred is brought to you by Smart Pots, the original lightweight, long lasting fabric plant container. it's made in the USA. Visit SmartPots.com slash Fred for more information and a special discount, that's SmartPots.com/Fred. 

Farmer Fred  00:20

Welcome to the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast. If you're just a beginning gardener or you want good gardening information you've come to the right spot. 

Farmer Fred  00:32

If you want to expand your vegetable garden palette this year, this is the episode for you. We're talking about vegetable varieties that are tasty but unappreciated. Broccolini, radicchio, Malabar spinach, Joi Choi, moringa, and much more. Do your garden plans include insectary plants? What's an insectary plant? Those are the annuals, perennials, and shrubs that attract pollinators and beneficial insects that will do battle against the bad bugs in your garden without any chemical help from you. And the Plant of the Week is that cascading yellow color of late winter and early spring, the forsythia. It's Episode 81 of the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast, brought to you by Smart Pots. And we'll do it all in under 30 minutes. Let's go. 

Farmer Fred  01:23

Well, if you're a new gardener, and maybe you started gardening last year, and this year, your thinking:  "I want to try something new, something different." Well, this is the episode for you. We're talking about something new, something different for your cool season and your warm season vegetable gardens. We are at a Sacramento area nursery, Fair Oaks Boulevard Nursery, talking with the manager and  Master Gardener Quentyn Young, an international bon vivant who is very familiar with foods from around the world. And he likes to bring them into his nursery here. Quentyn, let's start talking about some of the cool season vegetables that you have and that people may be unfamiliar with that they may want to try. There's still plenty of time to plant cool season vegetables, even here in California. It's early March. And there's still two or three months left of good growing of cool season crops.

Quentyn Young  02:13

Easy. Yeah. Everybody's always in a hurry to get their warm weather stuff in. But now's a great time to continue growing your cool weather stuff or to try something new. 

Farmer Fred  02:20

So what do we have here that people may not be familiar with? Now I'm looking at one right off the bat here, Joi Choi, which is a pak choi variety, and people may not even know what pak choi is?

Quentyn Young  02:31

Yes. So there's a whole kind of selection of the Asian Choi's that usually you're familiar with in Asian cooking, the joy chois are really nice, upright. Bok choi, very dark green leaves very nice white stem, it'll get quite large in terms of the choice maybe 10 to 12 inches tall.

Farmer Fred  02:51

And you harvest it for the greens.

Quentyn Young  02:53

Yeah, for the greens and for the stems.

Farmer Fred  02:56

What about bolting? Does Joi choi tend to bolt easily in the heat?

Quentyn Young  03:00

In the heat, most of these will bolt. So that's why they're really good, cool season vegetables.

Farmer Fred  03:05

All right. And again, these are Chinese cabbages, the Pak Choi, the Joi Choi and whatever else you have.

Quentyn Young  03:12

We've got the toy choi, which is a really nice small one. We've got some of the really harder to find purple leaf tatsoi. And they're just a really nice contrast in color in your garden, but also in your kitchen as well.

Farmer Fred  03:28

Now even though the name is cabbage, Chinese cabbage, it's a leafy cabbage. It's not a heading cabbage. 

Quentyn Young  03:35

Well, so the Napa cabbage is referred to as a heading cabbage, but it's much looser, it's not as hard and crunchy as what you would refer to maybe as a European white or red cabbage. 

Farmer Fred  03:46

Yeah, it almost looks like a romaine. 

Quentyn Young  03:47

It does. And it's got that sort of Savoy leaf and this is usually the one that's used for making kimchi.

Farmer Fred  03:54

And here's one. It's beautiful, reddish leaf. It's... you pronounce it.

Quentyn Young  03:59

Radicchio. And that's really popular. In Italian cuisine, it's a bitter green and this is one of those salad greens you may or may not be familiar with. And you may or may not like the taste depending on whether you'd like bitter greens but I really like it and I like the I love the color of it too.

Farmer Fred  04:16

One of my favorite lettuces and I discovered this a couple of years ago and it really is a good producer and if you've never grown lettuce before it is really an easy lettuce and very productive lettuce and it can take some heat, too. The Salanova oak leaf lettuce.

Quentyn Young  04:30

Yeah, the whole Salanova series are really productive. They're very upright, very crispy and very flavorful. 

Farmer Fred  04:38

Alright, what else do we have here?

Quentyn Young  04:40

Let's see, we've got all of our spinach in, we've got kale, we've got swiss chard, we've got snap peas, snow peas, we've got the Chinese broccoli, we've got broccolini. We've got a whole range of beets, we have beet greens. So there's tons of things that you could still put in right now to grow in the coolest season, especially with the lettuces, you don't need a lot of space for them. So you can just grow these in flower pots if you want to.

Farmer Fred  05:07

Talk about Chinese broccoli and broccolini.

Quentyn Young  05:10

So the broccolini is sometimes called AspaBroc. It's sort of a flavor combination of asparagus and broccoli. You eat both the Leafs and the stems and the unopened flower buds. Same with the Chinese broccoli, usually it will get a little bit bigger and you can also eat that. Really good in stir fries and soups and things like that.

Farmer Fred  05:31

Yeah, usually with broccoli, you're thinking about eating the florets.

Quentyn Young  05:34

Yeah, and this one, you can eat both the Leafs and the stems as well.

Farmer Fred  05:37

All right, again, Chinese broccoli and broccolini. And your area nurseries may have that in stock and a lot of great cool season stuff here. Let's talk a little bit more about some of the more unusual ones that you have here. What are some of the more international ones?

Quentyn Young  05:54

For the cool season vegetables would probably be the broccolini and the AspaBroc, we have some of the purple sprouting broccolis, those do really well. We've got some different kinds of spinach and some interesting celeries, and just a lot of leafy greens. And again, with the different kinds of choice, you can also eat them small in salads too.

Farmer Fred  06:17

Talk a bit about celery. Here in California, it can be difficult to grow, especially here in the hot Central Valley. But elsewhere, it's fairly easy.

Quentyn Young  06:24

It's fairly easy to grow. You know, sometimes you won't get the the large central ribs that you usually get at the grocery stores, but they're really good still for cooking. They have a lot of celery flavor. So you can use them in a lot of other applications.

Farmer Fred  06:37

And this is a root crop or are you eating the above ground portion?

Quentyn Young  06:41

You're eating the petiole if I'm not, if I'm not mistaken,

Farmer Fred  06:44

So it's the above ground portion on that plant.

06:46

Which is different than celery root, the vegetable.

Farmer Fred  06:50

What is the easiest celery variety to grow in hot weather climates?

Quentyn Young  06:55

The one that we carry I think it's called Pascal and that does really well.

Farmer Fred  06:58

Alright. For those of you getting geared up for warm season planting, appearing soon at a nursery near you may be some varieties that you are not familiar with. Now, one that you turned me on to several years ago and it's not anywhere near being ready for the marketplace yet, but it is so delicious. If you like the flavor, it's an acquired taste, it's Malabar spinach.

Quentyn Young  07:23

Yeah, the climbing Malabar spinach was that which is actually native to India. And that's not a true spinach, but it's a good spinach substitute for hot weather because the spinach here will bolt once the weather gets too hot.

Farmer Fred  07:34

Yeah, Malabar spinach doesn't take off until July or August.

Quentyn Young  07:37

Yeah. And then it'll produce all year long and like, you know, it'll grow up to like, you know, six to eight feet really cover a really nice trellis.

Farmer Fred  07:44

Yeah, exactly. Have a trellis for that. And there's another unusual plant. I believe it's from India, and it's called, I believe, Moringa.

Quentyn Young  07:51

Yeah, Moringa has been become really popular the last couple years, we'll have it soon. In a couple weeks. It doesn't like the cold weather, but it will overwinter here in Sacramento.

Farmer Fred  08:00

But elsewhere, again, you've planted as an annual.

Quentyn Young  08:03

You'll plant that as an annual or tender perennial, make sure you protect it depending on what zone you're in.

Farmer Fred  08:08

Right. And in tropical climates. It can be a tree. round here, it's more of a ground cover.

Quentyn Young  08:14

Yeah, but like you said, In parts of Fresno, that it is grown. In orchards. I think the older and bigger it gets the more frost hardy it is. But when it's small, and has maybe a stem no thicker than a pencil, you really want to protect it because it'll turn to mush if we have a hard freeze.

Farmer Fred  08:32

And if you Google the word moringa, you will find an amazing amount of literature about the health benefits of it.

Quentyn Young  08:40

Yeah, pretty much everything the leaves, the stems, the seeds, it's got multiple uses. And here, we usually sell it starting as a one gallon and then it'll get bigger, the longer you have it.

Farmer Fred  08:53

And what's the edible portion of it?

Quentyn Young  08:55

Most people use the leaves. 

Farmer Fred  08:57

And how do you spell it? 

Quentyn Young  08:59

m o r i n g a?

Farmer Fred  09:02

All right moringa. So if you have a nursery in your area that specializes in interesting vegetable varieties, be on the lookout for moringa. And of course you're starting to get in some hot peppers and what are some of your favorites to grow here? What are some of the ones that you have, that your customers really enjoy that maybe we haven't heard about?

Quentyn Young  09:23

Well, the ones that we sell the most are usually the Serrano's and the jalapenos because those are the ones that most people want to use those for salsa. And if you want to grow like a little salsa garden, that's great. Then we start getting into the really hot peppers, which don't start showing up until later. And you probably won't be harvesting them until maybe September, October, November. Mostly we'd like the habaneros, ghost peppers, the Carolina Reapers, Scorpion peppers, so we'll carry all those and they just have pretty much their own cult following.

Farmer Fred  09:51

Yes they do. And they take a while to mature, may not be mature around here until October and more and more people are using their annual peppers and overwintering them for year number two.

Quentyn Young  10:03

Yeah, you can basically treat it like a perennial. You just want to bring it in and protect from the cold. And over time, it'll develop a really interesting woody stem.

Farmer Fred  10:10

Yeah. So think about growing hot peppers in five or 15 gallon containers and then overwintering them, you know, in a warmer spot, and do they need that much sunlight when you're overwintering them?

Quentyn Young  10:22

Yeah, you want to still give them some really good bright light. 

Farmer Fred  10:26

There you go, you and you get more production in year two than you would in year one.

Quentyn Young  10:30

Well, those still produce really well in year one, but as they get bigger, they'll turn into maybe a three by three sort of shrubbery type bush.

Farmer Fred  10:38

For those that like melons the name, "bitter melon" may seem like a contradiction in terms

Quentyn Young  10:44

What we do, we will bring in bitter melon, it's a acquired taste. So if you have never tried it, try to have it prepared for you by somebody that knows what they're doing, but it's really popular with a lot of our South Asian customers.

Farmer Fred  11:00

And isn't there one called cucumber melon or something like that?

Quentyn Young  11:04

the cuca melon, or that one's native to Mexico, it looks like basically a little small watermelon and it's kind of a tart, cucumber finish in your mouth basically, has become really popular in salads and for drinks and things. 

Farmer Fred  11:20

Look for that. cucamelons.  Well, we've learned a lot about unusual cool season and warm season edibles that you just might want to try this year in your garden. Master Gardener Quentyn Young, manager of Fair Oaks Boulevard nursery here in the Sacramento area, thanks for turning us on to something new.

Quentyn Young  11:35

Thank you Fred.

Farmer Fred  11:41

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Farmer Fred  12:40

No matter where you might live, you're going to be seeing blooms and blossoms on trees and in-bloom flowers. And no matter where you're traveling, you're going to be seeing some interesting blooms this time of year and it may be adjacent to farms. What's going on there? And can that work in your backyard? And the short answer is Yes, they can. We're talking with Rachael Long. She's a University of California Farm Advisor and the blooms that we see beginning in March, Rachael, farmers are taking advantage of that because, heck, that's bringing on the beneficial insects and the pollinators.

Rachael Long  13:16

That's exactly right. So all these flowers that we're seeing out there now, the wild flowers that were that came up from the from the winter rains are really important for bringing in natural enemies like ladybugs and parasites or parasitoid wasp to help out with pest control on arms. 

Farmer Fred  13:37

And what's interesting too is there are so many good native plants no matter what state you live in, there are so many good native plants that you can put in that are going to attract these beneficial insects.

Rachael Long  13:49

Exactly. Every place across the United States and around the world, they noticed that there's a lot of different flowering plants, particularly the native ones that are adapted into your particular areas that these are so critically important to provide that needed nectar and pollen for beneficial insects and not just our natural enemies, but of course, for bees as well. And it's really important to pick the native plant and the native wildflower seed because they they actually are best for our natural enemies. If you try to bring something in from South Africa, that nectar or that pollen might not be best for the natural enemies, maybe it contains some high alkaloids or it doesn't produce a lot of the nectar that our native beneficial insects really need. So it's critically important to actually select plants that are adapted for your particular area that are native. And then the other issue with with bringing in a seed  that are from different areas  is that they might be weedy, I mean that  they could be adapted for the Midwest. But let's say if you bring it into California that it could be a seed that's actually considered a weed in our area an escaped weed, that  could be a problem for our landscapes and our farming area. So it's really important to actually choose plants that are native to that particular area, wherever you live.

Farmer Fred  15:22

We will be providing in this episode's show notes, a link to the Xerces Society. And from that list, you can key into the state where you live. And you can find the native plant lists that are best adapted for this purpose.

Rachael Long  15:37

And so when you're talking about your backyard garden, the more flowering plants that you have, the better and, but again, these insects, they travel around a lot, you think that they're just staying in one place, but they actually move and, and they're constantly moving. They're predators, you know, so they, they have to move around a lot and surprise, you know, like a lion,  it's always got to go out and hunt around for prey, versus an aphid that just needs to sit there for its food. So again, just having flowering plants kind of all around your yard, that provide this nectar and pollen for beneficial insects is really critically important. And you know, you don't have to plant your whole garden that way, it's just really important to intersperse the flowering plants around your garden for these beneficial insects. They rely on that nectar and pollen especially as adults that the larvae tend to be predators, but the adults are really relying on that nectar and pollen. And so just having in a different flowering plant. I love the salvia in particular around gardens and they provide really good nectar and pollen for beneficial insects that then move into your into your tomatoes or your zucchini and really do help to control a different pest.

Farmer Fred  16:54

So it's not necessary then to dedicate an entire raised bed of three by three or four by eight to these insectary plants, you could actually intersperse them among your crops.

Rachael Long  17:06

Absolutely. And actually they're done some of that that down in the Salinas Valley area in Monterey. And what they do is they actually have been interplanting alyssum into the vegetable crops, particularly for organic production. So you'll see like a bunch of lettuce plants, and then suddenly, you'll see alyssum, that flowering plant, blooming right there, just sort of interspersed throughout the field. And so you can either put them in, mix them in around your vegetables, a few plants here and there, or put them on the edge. And as I say, these beneficial insects and their predators they move, they have to move and in order to find their prey. So yeah, so they can just, however, you want to mix them around, and alyssum actually is really a good plant. That white flowering plant that's low growing and that does produce a lot of nectar and pollen that really is attractive to a lot of beneficial insects. And, take a look, you know, when you go to a garden supply store, I always look and see if these plants are, you know, have any bees on them, or if I see any ladybugs on them, oftentimes when you wander around, you know, like a plant to a store to get some dinner just to buy some different flowering plant and just look and see, you know, see what's there and, and oftentimes, if I see a ton of bees on it, I'll go "Okay, that's for me, I really want to have those in my garden to help pollinate my crops." So that's something to think about when you're shopping for plants.

Farmer Fred  18:40

And I would think then that the best time to shop would be mid day because that's when most of the insects are out flying around.  Pay attention to who who's landing where and consider those for your garden. A while back I posted at the Farmer Fred Rant blog page, an article called "Plants that Attract Beneficial Insects" and it's a short, sweet list that lists the plants and the beneficials that they attract and there's some commonalities among many of them. For like ladybugs. lacewings, the parasitic wasp that you mentioned (which are great for controlling tomato hornworms by the way),  the plants that are on the list, I see commonalities, there's yarrow, coriander, there's Queen Anne's lace, there's California buckwheat, there's Penstemons, there's sunflowers. There's a lot out there that are available widely that can work in this regard.

Rachael Long  19:37

Exactly. And so you want to pick both the perennials and annuals and in particular, the reason why is because you really want to have plants, have a flower all year long or have a range of flowering plants all year long so that there's always some nectar and pollen for beneficial insects. So of course that depends on where you're located. You can Think about how to provide more of a year round source of nectar and pollen. That's really important because these beneficial insects are amazing and we do rely on them for for naturally controlling our pests, like some big ones, or stinkbugs. You know, that's a huge pest of tomatoes, and these natural enemies, if you have them out there in in your garden,  will provide like 90 to 100% control of your stinkbug pest and as well as army worms and cutworms and  aphids that are always a problem that may need spraying. And thrips and mites and then any of our plant bugs like leaf hoppers that  if you can provide this, the food and also habitat for these natural enemies, you know, they do need places to live.

Farmer Fred  20:54

To bring on the bees, to bring on the beneficials, to bring on the birds, put in some plants that are going to attract them and help you out. It will cut your pest control costs down to nothing. I mean, when we had our acreage in southern Sacramento County during the last few years there I was applying no chemicals whatsoever on my summer garden because the good guys that were there were doing it all for me.

Rachael Long  21:19

Exactly. They're there. We just have to create habitat for them to bring them in to enable them to provide pest control for us in our backyard gardens and farms. 

Farmer Fred  21:29

It's a long term change. It's not a short term solution, but it is a long term change that will be to your benefit to bring on the garden good guys. Rachael Long, University of California Farm Advisor, we learned a lot today. Thank you.

Rachael Long  21:43

Well, you're welcome.

Farmer Fred  21:54

The Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast has a lot of information posted at each episode: transcripts, links to any products or books mentioned during the show, and other helpful links for even more information. Plus, you can listen to just the portions of the show that interest you, it’s been divided into easily accessible chapters.  Plus you’ll find more information about how to get in touch with us. Leave an audio question without making a phone call via Speakpipe, at speak pipe dot com. it’s easy, give it a try. And you just might hear your voice on the Garden Basics podcast! If you’re listening to us via Apple podcasts, put your question in the Ratings and Reviews section. Text us the question and pictures, or leave us your question at: 916-292-8964.916-292-8964. E-mail: fred@farmerfred.com . If you tell us where you’re from, that will help us greatly to accurately answer your garden questions. Because all gardening is local. In the show notes you’ll find links to all our social media outlets, including facebook, instagram, twitter, and youtube. Also, a link to the farmerfred.com website. And thanks for listening.

Farmer Fred  23:25

Every week we like to talk with Warren Roberts. He's the superintendent emeritus of the UC Davis Arboretum. And we're looking at a Plant of the Week, a plant that is fairly common throughout the United States and just might be ready to put on a show where you live. And this is one plant that really produces a beautiful fountain of yellow in late winter and early spring in many areas of the United States. Warren, it's a deciduous shrub known as forsythia

Warren Roberts  23:53

Yes, as you mentioned, a deciduous shrub with the blooms on its bare branches in spring. And it was named for somebody named Forsythe. And I think maybe in Britain they call it For-Sigh-thia. But in the US, it's for-sithia. It is really on stage. Doing its dancing and singing in spring. It's one of the plants that really tells us  spring is here,  the flowers have four petals, if I'm not mistaken, and they are abundant on the stems of the plants. And I've even seen it grown as a hedge for it's pruned rectangularly and that of course makes me smile, but it's a showy screen when this hedge turns bright yellow. The genus is native to East Asia and also to North America. The most common one is a forsythia This is a hybrid called forsythia x intermedia, and most of the cultivars are in that particular hybrid. But there are other species and there are hardier hybrids to broaden the range of growing this plant in gardens.

Farmer Fred  25:09

It comes in a fairly wide range of sizes as well, especially the intermediate from what? There are varieties that are three feet tall and there are some that are up to 10 feet tall.

Warren Roberts  25:20

Yes, and the best thing for forsythia unless you prune it as a hedge, which is of interest, is to let it show its natural shape, which is kind of like a big shout-out to the branches, some of them quite vertical and others arching. But any combination of it and it brings sunshine into the winter garden. The bright, bright yellow flowers, most of them are bright, yellow, and easy to grow. Full sun is best, I think, that is a member of a family that has all kinds of interesting members. It's related to lilacs,  it's related to olives, to ash trees. And it's related to Chinonanthus, that family. Forsythia itself is very much worthwhile growing.

Farmer Fred  26:14

 One fun thing you can do with the forsythia, when you see the buds and they haven't quite bloomed yet. You can cut those branches off, bring them indoors, stick them in a vase of water and they'll open up indoors.

Warren Roberts  26:24

And  Yes, they'll open up indoors. Ahead of them blooming outdoors. Another thing you can do because the stems are very long, you could make a whimsical circle actually out of a very tall, growing stem. That's bizarre, but it would be something you could do. So I think that it's not used as much in the West. But it's very popular in the Midwest and back East. Some people say, Oh, it looks like scrambled eggs on a stick? Well, I guess you could say that. It's you know, when something is successful, people plant a lot of it. And then nothing succeeds like success. And then someone will also say, Well, nothing succeeds like excess. I think that we should grow it a lot more. It certainly brings a smile to your face when you see it in the springtime.

Farmer Fred  27:15

And the forsythia can take some pretty darn cold temperatures. You have to get down to 15 or 20 below zero before the buds are damaged.

Warren Roberts  27:24

Yes, it's great. It's a very tough plant regarding cold. 

Farmer Fred  27:27

It's a fountain of yellow in late winter and early spring. Check out the forsythia. We'll have links for it in today's show notes. Warren Roberts, Superintendent emeritus of the UC Davis Arboretum, visit the UC Davis Arboretum online at Arboretum at uc davis.edu. Warren, thank you for telling us about the forsythia.

27:47

Glad to have the opportunity, Fred. Thank you.

Farmer Fred  27:51

Thanks for listening to Garden Basics with Farmer Fred, brought to you by Smart Pots. Garden Basics comes out every Tuesday and Friday. It's available on many podcast platforms including Apple, Spotify, Google Iheart, Stitcher and many more. And if you're listening on Apple, please leave a comment or a rating. That helps us decide which garden topics you'd like to see addressed. And again, thank you.