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Show 14 HOME AND GARDEN Advertising Supplement to Lakeside Review, Tues, April 10, 1990, and Standard-Examine- r, Wed , April 11, 1990 FDwr .4 i nj This garden jewel wont frazzle the gardener u i s Story By Katherine Whiteside Photo By Mick Hales ji j i i i b ome Type-personalities wear themselves to a frazzle over every bit of or beat their breasts because of a neglected round of fertiliz- t A on K dead-headin- g, U ing. Thankfully, Mother Nature has some delicacy in dealing with gardening zealots. Natures equivalent to accidentally dropping a lace hankie has often been known to seduce workhorse gardeners into gentler ways, just sitting and enjoying the flowers they have managed to grow. The ordinary garden is simply with dropped hankies. Mercury-lik- e dewdrops on ladys mantle leaves and the scent roses are two of natures more of work famous seductions. Another stopper is the graceful dance of the meadow rue. This charmer pirouettes provocatively through the better part of three seasons. The strong, skinny stalks of meadow rue branch like umbrellas, supporting These sprout hunflowers. of Starry panicles dreds of fluffy pastel stamens, creating a delicate powder puff effect. As each puff catches the tiniest wind, the entire plant swishes and sways in a most graceful manner. But one has to stand still to appreciate this dance. This wonderful old cottage flower simply cannot be enjoyed at a trot. Meadow rue should not be confused with the Ruta graveolens of aromatic, shrubby rue the herb garden, and it is perhaps more precise to refer to the Thalictrum species. There are-hajam-pack- sun-warm- ed ed ed Tri top-quali- 4 'hi Avrt .vir.ftX ' i rf ; ' - 7, VI ,T Aviv ?V? i , - tixx Ay ty Oi 0 I -- 4 Wi 4 ve about 100 different Thalictrums, and some been used to dye wools, while others were used to cure jaundice and plaque. During the Middle Ages, newborn babies were cuddled on pillows stuffed with meadow rue in hopes of ensuring them a lifetime of riches. This last use went by the wayside when trust funds were invented, but during hard times it is fr b V, 4 w jt " v ., " 49 t 1 ' Mother Nature seduces workaholic gardeners with meadow rue. See FLOWERS on 15 J' At r , r Ji. J ," LUO 4 Gardeners from Mekong to Mississippi By Becky Gillette National Gardening siasm for gardening comes through. Perhaps the most impresfact about the garden of sive like a Its stepping through magic mirror from one world Nguyen Huan V. and his wife Nhai is that not a single inch into another. is wasted. Even the space On one side theres Oak Street in the middle of urban above a concrete patio yields Biloxi, Miss., complete with food. On homemade nets that asphalt, traffic and noise; on stretch from one side of the lot to the other, a viney plant the other side, in the Vietnamwith large melons called qua ese garden of the Nguyen family, the ' street sounds are muop grows so densely the almost completely muted by sun is almost completely blotthe dense, junglelike tangle of ted out. Muop produces from early vegetable growth that covers the entire yard from the back summer until it is killed by frost. One of the great advanporch to the back fence. tages of the squashlike fruit is By late October, most that it stores well. After harsouthern gardens have dwina substance apdled to onions, a few greens vesting, chalky on the outside of the and some okra plants. But this pears that helps preserve it muop garden planted by immigrant for six months or longer. The Vietnamese is still in its Vietnamese cut muop into prime, yielding baskets full small pieces, boil it for five vegetables every day. minutes and combine it with ' The Nguyens make a good living selling produce from their backyard garden, about $75 to $100 per day during the growing season, says my interpreter Vu Hiep, who is acting as my guide for a tour of Vietnamese gardens in Biloxi. shrimp or other seafood in soup. Inside the yard, shorter net trellises and canopies are used to grow other popular vine plants such as pole beans, bitter melon (used to make a delicious sweet-sou- r soup), green melon (shaped like a pumpkin) and Chinese okra, which Nhai we who know as luffa. Grown in T., Nguyen doesnt- - speak English, ex- U.S. gardens for the excellent plains through Vu Hiep that sponges it makes, luffa is also she gardens because shes too edible when eaten small, less old to learn a new profession than 8 inches long. in the United States. She conThere are rows of rau siders the garden a labor of muong, one of the most comlove as well as a livelihood.' mon greens in the Vietnamese Even though I cant undergardens. Rau muong grows her enthu her about a foot tall and its leaves stand language, Sources for Vietnamese, oriental vegetables Many of the favorite vegetables of the Vietnamese are also popular with the Chi- nese, Koreans and Japanese, and some of these Oriental vegetables are readily available to American gardeners. Chinese cabbage and Chinese okra (luffa), for example, are found in many seed catalogs and garden supply centers. But many of the most popular Vietnamese vegetables can be tough to locate, for seeds of crops such as muop, not available through seed catalogs, your best bet is to visit a Vietnamese or Oriental market. Buy the muop and save the seeds for can be eaten raw, steamed or boiled. Its often chopped and added to seafood dishes or soups. Many of the Oriental vegetables in the Nguyen and oth- er Vietnamese gardens I visited were new to me. Theres tungo, an attractive plant similar to celery with blossoms that resemble sunflowers, or khoami mo, a climbing vine that produces a large root crop with the flavor of buttered potatoes. John E. Davis, area horticulture specialist with the Mississippi Cooperative Extension Service, has been surprised by some of the things he found in of Chinese cabbage, perilla planting in your own garden. and Malabar spinach. B Richters Herb Catalog For other Oriental vegetable seeds, try one or more of (Box 26, Goodwood, Ontario, Canada LOCI AO; catathe following mail-ordcarries log $2.50) companies: HMellingers (3210 W. Vietnamese coriander (rau South Range Road, North ram), a perennial Chinese . i. Lima, Ohio 44452; catalog coriander and free) offers Chinese cabbage, ETsang and Ma (P.O. bitter melon, Chinese chives Box 294, Belmont, Calif. and coriander. 94002; catalog free) offers E Nichols Garden Nurs- six varieties of Chinese cabery (1190 N. Pacific High- bage, three types of mustard way, Albany, Ore. 97321; greens, Skinjuku, Chinese catalog free) carries two vaspinach and Malabar spinrieties of Chinese parsley ach, Chinese okra, winter one is best for seeds (corian- - melon, bitter melon, perilla der), another for leaves (cil- .and Oriental eggplant. Oriental garlic antro) Reprinted with permischives, Chinese okra (luffa), sion . Distributed by Los Anbutter melon, five 'varieties geles Times Syndicate er Pak-Cho- Vietnamese gardens, such as a plant we think of as a mere weed, perilla. We consider perilla toxic, but it depends on when you harvest it and how you prepare it, said Davis. Vietnamese also use more of a plant than we do. For example, we use the seeds of coriander but Vietnamese eat the whole plant which they know as Chinese parsley. Also called cilantro, Chinese parsley is similar to American parsley, but stronger and tang-ie- r. Its used fresh as a garnish or flavoring agent, and to cut strong odors. This herb is best grown as a crop or under shade in the summer. Seeds should be cracked (but not smashed) and planted about 14 inch deep. Once established, it normally cool-seas- on self-see- ds each year. Other plants in the. Viet- namese gardens are more familiar. One of the most popular are firecracker eggplants, which are about the size of a pingpong ball and more aromatic than the larger eggplants. Firecracker eggplants got their name because they pop with flavor in your mouth. I see other vegetables I recognize, such as tomatoes, let tuce, onions, peppers (they like em hot!), Chinese cabbage, bok choy, okra, Malabar spinach and garlic. Hand tools and raised beds None of the Vietnamese gardens I visited had ever seen a tiller. All gardening js done by hand. Even in the large gardens of the Nugyens on Oak Street and of Nguyeij Manh and his sister, Ngtryeri Loan, who also grow vegetables for sale out of a half-aci- b garden, are worked by hand, j Manh and most of the other Vietnamese gardeners I spoke with prefer commercial fertil- - t izers, and spray malathion Of Sevin for insect control. But one gardener, Le Son at West End Homes, says she doesnt need any chemicals to control bugs because she puts plenty of wood ashes into her garden ' soil. . I Davis has noticed a number of admirable techniques in the Vietnamese gardens. They make very good use of space, and keep their gardens pro ductive he said. Here are some of the meth ods the Vietnamese use to produce a bountiful harvest: ; raised-be- d B Wide-rogar dening, with narrow wide paths between beds.five or six feet wide, consexyes space by maximizing growing space and minimizing the size of the walkway. The walkways are covered with scrap lum- ber, which helps keep them clear of weeds and prevents compaction of the soil. See GARDEN on 16 year-roun- w, d, |