A harvest first for the season: Tri-color Amaranth.
Tri-color Amaranth
The amaranth went from the garden to the wok in less than an hour. Because it was so fresh and tender, after washing, I cut all into bite-sized lengths and simply sauteed in a bit of garlic infused oil, salt and pepper to taste, served as a side, so good!
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In my June 20, 2016 post, I wondered what would the result be if I harvest some of the beet leaves before much of a root is formed.
(NOTE: The carrot experiment mentioned in the same post failed, the tops all died. It was just too hot and dry, bad timing.)
Early Wonder Beets
In the above photo no leaves were harvested from the left half of the beets in the box, 50% of leaves were harvested from the right half of the beets in the box. As you can see, they all formed beetroots. Actually I think the plants on the right are looking healthier and happier.
I pulled the largest of the beet from the left side and the right side.
Early Wonder Beets
In the above photo, the beet on the left no leaves were removed, the beet on the right about 50% of the leaves were removed. The differences between the two aren’t that much. In the future I will harvest some of the leaves for cooking as I love sauteed beet greens.
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Transplanted some of the seedlings I mentioned in my July 18, 2016 post into window boxes and bumped up the remainder for transplanting into the garden as space becomes available.
Middle Row: Purple Kolibri. 2 Outer Rows: Shanghai Bok Choy
To maximize space I inter-planted Shanghai Bok Choy with Purple Kolibri. The 5 plants in the middle row are Purple Kolibri, 45 days to maturity. The 2 outer rows are Shanghai Bok Choy, 21 days for baby, but will harvest sooner if crowding becomes an issue.
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In the window box below are 3 rows of loose head type Chinese cabbage, Beka Santoh
Beka Santoh, Loose Head Type Chinese Cabbage
Beka Santoh can be harvested anytime. I will leave the 4 plants in the middle row to grow to maturity (about 45 days) and harvest the 2 outer rows as soon as they start to crowd the middle row.
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In the window box below are Shanghai Bok Choy.
Shanghai Bok Choy
Am leaving all 12 plants to grow as long as possible harvesting the outer leaves as needed. Last year I had Shanghai Bok Choy growing up until we had frost. This year, to extend the season, I plan to move the window box into the garage at night when frost is predicted and move it out onto the driveway during the day. May not be worth the effort, but the only way to know is to try.
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The seedlings below are for the garden when space becomes available.
Seedlings for Garden
There are Napa, Kohlrabi Vienna Blend, Win Win Choy, Radicchio, Lettuce, …
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Experimenting with growing daikon in a container.
Daikon, China Express
The above container is 18-inches deep, more than enough depth for the daikon root to grow.
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Other harvests for the week included: Peppermint Swiss Chard, more Beets, Broccoli, Goji leaves (went home with friends) and Chinese Chives
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Garden to Wok 
Fantastic harvest, Norma. I love esp. that tri-coloured amaranth!
Hello Angie,
Thanks, the tri-colored amaranth is very striking in the garden, so glad bugs leave it alone.
I was just thinking about you while I was outside finishing measurements for my new veggie garden. Hope I get wonderful harvests like you do.
Have a wonderful day Norma.
🙂 Mandy xo
Hello Mandy,
I am sure you will get bountiful harvests, looking forward to reading about your crops. A wonderful day to you too.
The amaranth is really an attractive plant. Too beautiful to eat. Your container experiments are interesting. Hope your new containers do well in this weather. I tried radishes in a container and they did not like the hot weather this summer.
Hello Dave,
So far my containers are doing well they are in a location that makes watering easy and that makes all the difference. My daikon radish is growing well so far the container is in a more shady (cooler) area so hopefully they will not bolt prematurely.
I love to read about your garden experiments Norma! I’ve never tried radishes in a container, so it will be interesting to so how yours do. The amaranth really is lovely. I wish I could grow it here but bugs always seem to eat it up before I can!
Hello Dave,
With the relentless heat (over 90F) not sure if my container radish experiment will succeed. The headline on the front page of your local newspaper reads: “Feel the burn: It will be hotter than normal everywhere”.
I’ve never seen tri-color amaranth, it looks very pretty! Very cool to read about your beet experiment. It’s fun to do gardening experiments! You are growing an impressive amount in containers this year!
Hello B & B,
I have expanded my containers this year, at the stage of my life where it is becoming more challenging to work in the garden, with containers I can elevate them to a comfortable height.
You are certainly set with all of those lovely seedlings ready to go! I am very much NOT on top of things when it comes to seeding for fall crops. I have so much on my plate right now that I’m thinking I may just do one bed instead of the 3 I had originally planned.
That’s an interesting experiment with the beets – I’m wondering if the same thing would happen with turnips. Turnip greens are a favourite of mine, especially for blanching and freezing for use over the winter.
Hello Margaret,
After all these years of gardening, this is the first year that I am on top of seeding for fall crops. Do experiment with turnip greens and write a post about the result, should be interesting.
Look at all your seedlings, you’ve been very busy. The amaranth is so beautiful and it’s amazing that removing the leaves didn’t make any difference in root growth for the beets. Hmmm, I’ve been thinking about harvesting broccoli leaves lately.
Hello Phuong,
Go for it, I think if you harvest the lower broccoli leaves it would not affect the head, do write a post if you decide to give it a try.
” … the only way to know is to try.” You should have that engraved on a plaque and place it in your garden, Norma. You’re forever testing things and we, your audience, and our gardens benefit. Thank you.
Hello John,
What a coooool idea, thank for the suggestion. My son-in-law is very handy and my daughter is very creative, will see if they have time, if not I am sure I can find someone locally.
As you know, I am not much of a gardener so I am rather surprised that the beet grows so well in such a shallow container, nicely done. I love beet leaves but sadly the stuff from the store is always so beat up (pardon the pun) that it’s almost useless to use. Figgy has one fig growing and I don’t see any more this season. I have bagged the fig in hopes the critters won’t find it. On the plus side, the canopy is spectacular so I’m hoping he is building up for next year. Oscar (Meyer Lemon) still has only one fruit, I am fertilizing regularly. At least they provide some visual interest in the garden even though they don’t provide much fruit.
Hello Eva,
Beets are shallow root crop reason they grow well in shallow container. Early Wonder Beets are most suitable for window box as they are ready when about 1 1/2 – 2 inches in diameter. Really easy to grow and produce lots of tall tender greens that are delicious you could even grow it just for the greens.
Did you give Figgy some lime and granular fertilizer earlier in the season and plenty water throughout the season? Hope Oscar starts to flower soon and you will have lots of meyer lemons.
Congratulations on the amaranth; it looks very pretty. And your beetroot look great too. I admire how you grow so much from window boxes xx
Hello Charlie,
Thanks. I am surprised at how well those window boxes are producing. Still have quite a bit of seedlings that need to be transplanted so am going to get a few more window boxes today.
Sorry about the carrots…most of your experiments work. The tri-colored amaranth is such a pretty plant, love the colors.
Hello Karen,
I was sad about the carrots at first but decided I learned from the failure so not a loss.
Norma, I hope you are aware of how happy you make your readers, not only the gardeners, who are lucky enough to live in the right climate and have a garden/balcony/terrace/space on windowsill 🙂 etc. , but especially people like I, who love gardening very much, but can not do it now due to a lot of restrictions. For me each time it is such a pleasure to open your site and read about your efforts, look at the beautiful photographs and imagine your produce in my kitchen to be used for our table. I love love love your tri-coloured amaranth -so pretty, I think I would bring just 1 plant into the house to look at it all the time (if this were possible). The other thing is that sadly the marketstalls and shops here only sell beets without!!! any leafes – such a shame. But what can I do 🙂 🙂 🙂 ? So, thank you very much. Carina
Hello Carina,
You made my day so happy to know my posts make you happy. Never thought of growing tri-colored amaranth as a houseplant, if you decide to give it a try do write about it.
The amarantha is so pretty. I was wondering where you purchase your Asian vegetable seeds?
Hello Somy,
I get some from http://www.evergreenseeds.com, some from Johnny’s Seed and some I self-save.
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