Transform Your Bare Balcony Into a Leafy Farm-To-Table Garden
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Having passed the one-month self-quarantine mark, I can guarantee that even local Beijingers are starting to run short on their winter cabbage stores. Given that we've been gifted a lot of extra time, and too many easy opportunities to eat sub-par waimai, why not try nurturing your own easy-to-grow herbs? It's the perfect way to add a little extra zing to your home cooking and some color to your balcony. Below, I'll teach you how to nurture several herbs and plants at home as well as recipes to use them in once grown, just as my mother taught me.
Bok choy
These green leafy veggies are way tougher than they look, and their roots can regrow easily with just two ingredients: water and soil. When preparing your bok choy, don't peel the leaves off layer by layer; but simply cut horizontally across the plant 2 centimeters above the bottom, and save the root. Then, you can either place it in a shallow bowl with cool tap water covering the roots or plant the roots into a pot of soil. If you do the former, make sure the remaining stem is above the surface of the water, otherwise it may rot. Place the container on a window sill and change the water every two or three days. If everything goes to plan, you should see new leaves sprouting in no time.
Family recipeThe new leaves are best stir-fried with a firmer variety of tofu, which should ensure that you don’t end up with a bowl of leaves and scrambled tofu. For flavor, add salt as well as pork bone soup or stock if you have it. To finish, sprinkler bonito flakes on top, deepening the layers of flavor as well as a little magic to the dish dance, with the flakes dancing as the steam rises through them.
Scallions
Scallions are great to grow as they are both hardy and versatile. In order to re-cultivate these slim green herbs, you'll need to plant the root that you've saved from your cooking, along with two to three centimeters of the green shoots. If you lack the space, you can put them in the same pot with your bok choy, and water them on the same schedule. Sunlight is necessary for any vegetable to grow but the scallion sprouts are quite fragile so we recommend keeping them out of direct sunlight. Once the green stem starts to show, you can cut off the green sprouts for cooking and let the white bottom continue to grow for the next harvest.Family recipe
This classic Chinese breakfast of scallion scrambled eggs is one of my favorites. The fragrance of the scallion awakens your appetite and perfectly complements the creaminess of the eggs. Scallions are more delicate than leeks so make sure not to leave them in the wok for too long, otherwise, they're likely to burn. An alternative is to add some flour to your egg mixture to make a scallion egg pancake.
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Anyone who has left a garlic bulb for too long will know that garlic sprouts are one of the easiest things to grow. Fear not, these sprouts do not indicate that the garlic has become inedible, on the contrary, garlic sprouts are very nutritious and have a milder garlicky taste. All you need is a bowl or deep plate and to place the bulbs standing upright (if you don't have enough bulbs to lean on each other, simply prop them up using cotton, etc.) and then add a little water so that the bottoms of the bulbs are submerged. Leave out so that they can get light, replace the water if it becomes cloudy, and you'll be sprouting in no time.
Family recipe
You can cut the garlic sprouts as long as you leave 1-2cms above the clove, and it is better to do so before they blossom as this may alter the flavor and cause the stalks to become too chewy. Simply chop them into short pieces, season, and stir-fry them with the pork loin.Other options
Cabbage flowers grow in a similar way to bok choy and can either be harvested for cooking or allowed to flower, adding a splash of yellow to brighten up your room.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to grow a full radish using just water or small pots of soil on your balcony, as this root vegetable requires a pot 2-3 times larger than itself to grow in. But even if you've only got a few small pots or leftover waimai containers to work with, that doesn’t stop you from enjoying watching the radish plant's white flowers from coming into bloom. Paired with the aforementioned cabbage flowers, your balcony will soon be the most colorful garden on your floor.
You can also explore similar regrowth methods with many varieties of veggies and herbs. For instance, try cutting tomatoes in half and burying them in soil. With proper care, you should have a whole new plant in weeks. Or even easier, ask your local bartender for his mint stalk cutoffs and plant them in a pot to grow your own mint plant for future at-home mojitos.
READ: Thirsty at Home? These Local Venues are Delivering Booze
Images: mcdowellsherbal.com, Yan Xiaoxia, Zeus Zou
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