Hands in the Dirt: Tatsoi

Article and photo by Donna Iverson

In the summer, fresh salad greens are difficult to come by as they grow best in cool weather.  For example, the arugula in my community garden bed has gone to seed.  And its leaves are no longer tart but bitter.
In August, I find my greens at the local farmers market instead. Often that means purchasing a bag of mixed greens, which in summer contains a lot of oak and red leaf lettuces and tatsoi. 
Tatsoi is an Asian leafy green variety in the cabbage family. It is a close cousin to the better known bok choy. You can identify it by its large spoon-shaped leaves.
Tatsoi has a sweet nutty flavor and is high in vitamins and calcium. It contains twice as much calcium as milk. 
In the garden, you can plant Tatsoi seeds in late summer. It needs about 3 to 5 hours of direct sunshine. When harvesting, pick the larger outer leaves first and add it to salads or stir fries. It is a cut and come again veggie. If you are a container gardener, it needs a minimum two gallon pot. 
Other Asian greens you might like to try are Muzuna, Choy sum, Gai lan (broccoli), Gai choy (mustard) and Ong choy (spinach).

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