Sure we’re already mid-way into the growing season but it’s not too late to plant seeds and it is certainly not too late to buy seeds with pretty packaging. I found these Asian seeds by Kitazawa Seed Co. at Soko Hardware in an Francisco’s Japantown and could not resist their understated but well-designed packages for my collection.
I plan to try out the watercress seeds immediately as an experiment and will use the daikon seeds in my sprouter. I already have my shiso crop in place for this year and being hardy self-seeders probably won’t need the seeds next year but I thought, What the hey, and bought them anyways.
Browsing through the website I can see that they have a huge selection of Asian veggies and herbs that I have never seen anywhere else. Check out ‘Tankuro’, a black seeded soybean, ‘Japanese Long Scarlet‘ an elongated, red radish, and ‘Kurogoma‘ black sesame seeds! Too late and too much for this year but possibles for next year’s experiments.
my sis in law gave me some seeds from Kitazawa over the weekend and I’m going to try to grow some of them as well. another good source of asian veggies is evergreenseeds.com and quite good prices too.
I’m very much a beginner gardener and was wondering if it was too late to plant… Is it ok to still plant perennials, even when the instructions say to plant in the spring?
Mmmm, those asian seeds sounds amazing! Keep us posted :)
Thanks for the tip stef.
Heather: It depends on your climate. Spring and fall are the suggested planting seasons for perennials since the weather conditions tend to be wetter and the temps less extreme making for a smoother transition for the plants.
Summer is still okay though for all kinds of plants. Some seeds like beans prefer to get their start when the soil is warm. I do successive plantings throughout the summer. You can start some fast-growing edibles and herbs from seed later on too. As long as they are heat-loving plants and you don’t mind the extra attention to watering and shading you can push some of the “rules.”
Gayla…do you have any good suggestions on where to find the best planting times for seeds based upon region? Mine happens to be 7a but feels like 10 right now!
I grew watercress last year from seed and transferred it outside and two days later some insects had devoured it completely. This year I grew them in little pots that I keep in a moderately sunny window and keep them nice and moist. They look and taste great. I would suggest they not get too hot, too much sun, and they get lots of water as they are a boggish type plant…good luck Gayla!
what a fun tip. thanks! I’m bookmarking the Kitazawa site for this winter, when I’m “garden planning”.
Wow I am such a newbie at this, I never enev thought about growing watercress. We love watercress in our stir frys and salads. Thanks for the great idea and thank you Me’Chelle for some advice on growing them.
My Taichung 13 snow pea seeds from Kitazawa did very well even though I bought them stale on sale and STILL didn’t get around to planting them until the season after that.
Looks like you got better prices on yours, though. They usually run $3.99 where I am.
Thanks Me’Chelle. I’m familar with finding watercress growing next to ponds so I have been trying to think of some kind of little bog container to make for them.
Right now I just use those big juice/sauce cans and keep the soil wet. I painted them like the picture I found in your book. I love that idea by the way..When you have found something to work for you will you take a picture, please?
I love your site and all the people are great and so helpful. Thank you for creating this Gayla!
Erin and Gayla, you are welcome and good luck! It is soooo much cheaper and tastier to grow your own watercress!
You are a saint! I have been trying to find Asian veggie seeds for a while now, and now I know where to find them. Thank you for posting it!