Am planting 2 different varieties of ginger in containers for comparison. In the photo below:
The ginger plant on the left is from rhizome (root) I purchased from the local health food store, it was very skinny, about the size of my pinky. It took about 2 months to sprout.
The ginger plant on the right is from rhizome I got from Florida, it was quite chunky, click here for a photo (like the ones in the food markets). It took about 4 months to sprout but has grown a lot since since July 18 and is now 32 inches tall.
Not sure why there is such huge differences in sprouting between the 2 varieties. Planning to bring both indoor for the winter to grow as houseplant
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First container grown figs were picked on Monday 8/15. Ate them straight, super sweet.
Have been picking a few figs daily, but they disappeared fairly quickly. Did manage to save some to share with friends.
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Containers providing me with an abundant of good eats.
Above photo: Left – Red Amaranth. Middle – Forellenschluss & Midnight Ruffle Lettuces. Right – Tri-Colored Amaranth.
Photo below: Left – Win-Win Choy. Right – Golden Pascal Celery.
The celery has a nice celery flavor but the ribs are skinny, is this due to the extended heat wave and drought we are experiencing?
Am debating whether to plant celery again next year.
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Below photo: Blue container – Red Core Chantenay Carrots. Foam ice chest – Green Lance Gailan. Window box – Win-Win Choy.
In the window box above I planted 12 Win-Win Choy. The plants grew to resemble baby bok choy and I was harvesting outer leaves 30 days after sowing.
In the window box below (same size as the one above, 36″ x 8″) I planted only 5 Win-Win Choy. The plants were much, much larger (like the regular size bok choy we see in the supermarkets).
Experiment conclusion: If you want baby bok choy and earlier harvest, plant the seedlings closer together. If you want larger and fatter ribs bok choy, space the seedlings further apart.
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I am so excited, the daikon, China Express, I planted in container have formed nice looking long white roots. The seeds were direct sown in the container 7/12/16.
One of the daikon was flowering so pulled it. Worried that it would be woody but it was tender and crispy with just a little bite.
Daikon was small, only 5+ inches long. Peeled and thinly sliced, tossed with a bit of rice vinegar, salt and sugar to make a quick pickle. Very tasty.
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Was given some semi-heading mustard seeds which I planted in a foam ice chest. The plants are very pretty and I understand are heat and disease resistant.
I have 6 plants in the ice chest, too many, should remove at least 2 so the others can grow properly. Going to let one of the remaining plants go to seeds for next year’s planting.
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Came across these sprouting eddo (aka coco) in the grocery store. Had to buy them to see if I could get them to grow.
And grow they did.
I am aware that the growing season in the Hudson Valley is too short for them to produce edible size corms but I wanted to see how they grow. May be I can over winter the plants in my basement, will see. Any of my readers have experience?
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From the garden, harvesting more Red Noodles Beans and Chinese Long Beans.
All the above, and more, went home with friends.
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Copyright © by Norma Chang. All Rights Reserved. Do not use/repost any photos and/or articles without permission.
Do visit Dave at Our Happy Acres for more Harvest Monday
Garden to Wok 
Such an amazing harvest! All those freshly picked salads…just terrific!
Hello Angie,
The midnight ruffle lettuce leaves were large and sturdy, used them as a wrap.
You are really producing an abundance from just containers. You might look into Korean style daikon radishes. They are shorter and fatter than the Japanese and grow mostly above ground. They did well in a 6-inch raised bed, which matches teh depth f your containers.
Hello Dave,
I am planting Tae Baek a Korean daikon, the seeds were sown a week later than the China Express, may see some root this week.
Your greens are lovely Norma – I know you must be eating well! That eddo looks a bit like taro to me, the leaves and the root. It’s interesting, your tallest ginger is about the same height as mine that I planted in the ground. My turmeric is much shorter. The spacing on the Win Win makes sense, since cabbage tends to behave much the same way depending on spacing. And your spaghetti squash recipe sounds good to me. I will give it a try, and thanks for sharing it!
Hello Dave,
Yes, eddo is in the taro family or may be it is known as taro, I am not sure. I hope you like my spaghetti squash recipe, do give me feed back.
Your daikon radishes grew really fast, amazing. And your choys and long beans look fantastic. I wish I had grown long beans this year, they would’ve dealt much better with the heat.
Hello Phuong,
I was surprised when I saw the long white roots poking out of the soil. Yes, this is definitely the year for long beans.
Love seeing all your container goodies! We want to try to start growing figs so I might come to you for some answers! Enjoy your August harvest!
Hello Pamela,
Call on me anytime if I can be of any help with growing figs.
I actually think your celery looks rather good. I usually have to slice mine lengthwise before chopping up for various dishes such as salads etc., so I’m thinking that the skinnier stalks would make for less work!
I’m quite interested in your ginger too. I had actually purchased a nice chunky bit from an organic shop in Toronto but never got around to planting it. A project for next year but in the meantime, I’ll be watching your progress with it. And that eddo sure does make a lovely little plant, doesn’t it – I’ve not heard of it before…how does it taste?
Hello Margaret,
I guess you are correct it is just that I was expecting the stalks to be fat like the ones in the supermarket. I will be posting updates on the progress of my ginger. Eddo has a mild nutty flavor and a hint of sweetness texture is somewhere between chestnut and potato. Never eaten raw.
Everything looks great! I have taro growing in the ground, use it for the stalk. What kind of figs are you growing & in size container should be use?
Hello Somy,
Can you grow taro year round where you live? How do you use the taro stalk? The fig I am growing I think is Brown Turkey. The container is about 18″x18″x17″.
Ms. Norma, I live in TN, so I do get ice & snow as part of the four seasons. The stalk just die when the first frost arrives, usually towards the end of October/beginning of November, but will pop back up in late April. I rarely get big enough bulbs, but I grow it for the stalks. Mine will actually multiply on their own. Have a good day!
Hello Somy.
Good to know, perhaps I can overwinter my container of eddo in my garage.
I’m sorry, I forgot to answer on the use of the stalks. I’ve only seen it used in southern Asian style soups that has bamboo, cherry tomatoes, different types of herbs & catfish if one wants. I’ve only eaten the taro itself in desserts or snack chips.
Hello Somy,
I will go online to learn more about how to use the stalks.
And your garden keeps producing and producing, Norma. That’s wonderful. I admire your self-discipline. If I had a fig tree that was producing fruit, I would have a very hard time giving any away. I do love them so! Only after I ate my fill and made jars of preserves could I spare some of the tasty fruit — and only to the very best of friends. 🙂
Hello John,
I am pleasantly surprised at how well my containers are producing. You really should grow a fig tree in container.
You’re really doing well with the harvest despite the crazy heat we’ve been having. Sadly, Figgy has only one fig and it’s not growing quickly. I’m afraid it won’t be ready to pick before our fall trip (more on that later). But his canopy is awesome! I’m hoping next year there will be lots of figs to harvest. On the plus side, they are only $1 each at the store!
Hello Eva,
Fig tree is a heavy drinker and need to be watered more frequently when grown in container, to make life easier I have a tub under my fig container that I fill every morning and on hot days I refill late afternoon.
Thank you Norma, I shall do that.
My but you have to be eating well from your garden, especially with those sweet figs.
Hello Karen,
Yes, I have been eating very well from my garden and getting spoil with garden to plate crops 🙂
Your mesclun salad mixes are beautiful. Congrats on growing figs in a container. I hope you get edible ginger from your trugs of ginger plants. I have grown it in containers in the past, using ginger root from the grocery store. Good luck!
Hello Lou,
I too am hoping to get edible ginger from my container plants but am not going to harvest any this year. I will be overwintering it in my basement to see if will continue to grow or go dormant.