Abundant Choy Sum

Our most abundant vegetable is the delectable choy sum. It is a relative of the cabbages (Brassica family), but it does not heart up like traditional cabbages. It is our experience that Sydney's climate is very suitable for this leaf vegetable, and we are blessed with year round harvests... even in the summer months.

A delicious meal awaits

Our first crop was grown from planted seed. However, these days we allow some of our best choy sum plants to run to seed. The dropped brown seeds will sprout where they please and when the weather is conducive for their growth, they will sprout a new crop. There is no need for replanting. Keep the choy sum bed well fed and composted, and pick the plants while they are young and tender.

A minor pest of choy sum is the Cabbage White Butterfly. However, the damage caused by the caterpillars of the butterfly is not as serious as with other cabbage crops: we never take any control measures, preferring to tolerate a hole or two in our plants.

Choy Sum flowers

When a group of choy sum plants begins to flower, they can be a rather pretty sight with their four-petalled yellow flowers. Later in the flowering process the plants will become rather leggy... and less interesting visually.

Due to the ease of growing choy sum, we have regular harvests for stir-fries, and as a sliced vegetable in rice and noodle dishes.

Wishing you hours of enjoyment and contentment in your garden…