Bok Choy vs Baby Bok Choy

Have Bok Choy planted and coming along wonderfully. Then we received Baby Bok Choy in an Organic Vegetable buy. Well, turns out this looks like my current Bok Choy plant. Is there any difference between these two or did the farmer just cut off some young Bok Choy to include in our purchase?

Can my early/baby Bok Choy be harvested also? Or is this center shoot and flower head, just the first one to come on and cutting it will encourage the others to grow?

Opinions please. I'd appreciate your help.

Varmit
CA Mojave Desert, zone 8a/b

That delightfully delicious baby bok choy and it's less delicious adult form are the same plant. We eat a lot of Asian vegetables, but haven't raised any ourselves. Baby is mild flavored and sweet (great just chopped up in chicken broth--nappa cabbage in broth is my kids all time favorite simple meal), but baby is easy to get slimey and be stringy if overcooked. It's mostly served as the whole shoot, but that requires too much chewing for my children. It won't stand up to stirfry. Asian grocery stores have it for about a quarter price of chains. The adult form is much stronger flavor--like it could be a totally different plant. The stalk and leaves both stir fry well--I do a simple pork with soy sauce. This year wil be my first year for SFG or any gardening as an adult for that matter--my book hasn't even arrived yet. My kids and I are moving out of Phoenix to Sedona and are excited about growing our own food. I stumbled across your forum while looking for an applebread recipe! (And, this is the first forum I have belonged to also.)

varmit wrote:Have Bok Choy planted and coming along wonderfully. Then we received Baby Bok Choy in an Organic Vegetable buy. Well, turns out this looks like my current Bok Choy plant. Is there any difference between these two or did the farmer just cut off some young Bok Choy to include in our purchase?

Can my early/baby Bok Choy be harvested also? Or is this center shoot and flower head, just the first one to come on and cutting it will encourage the others to grow?

Opinions please. I'd appreciate your help.

Varmit
CA Mojave Desert, zone 8a/b

I grew bok choy (aka pac choi) and always harvested at a fairly young age for baby pac choi. As young plants, I harvested a few of the larger leaves from the plants. Once they started growing a stalk and flower bud, I always harvested the full plant.

I can't remember ever cooking them any other way that stir fried, and they took very little time. I often would take the baby plant and slice in half through the stem end so they would hold together.



The following came from Territorial Seeds for culture and harvest information

HARVEST:Leaves and stalks may be cut as desired without removing the entire plant. When flowering begins, eat the unopened flowers and the succulent stalks below them.

CULTURE: This crop grows best in a cool environment with moist, airy, soil that provides high nutrient levels. Responds best to decreasing day length and temperatures, which makes it a good fall crop. Spring plantings can also be successful when planted at the proper time. Premature bolting is often times a result of young plants being exposed to frost.

LaurieLou wrote:This year wil be my first year for SFG or any gardening as an adult for that matter--my book hasn't even arrived yet. My kids and I are moving out of Phoenix to Sedona and are excited about growing our own food. I stumbled across your forum while looking for an applebread recipe! (And, this is the first forum I have belonged to also.)

LaurieLou

Very nice to have you join us. You and your kids should have a great time gardening the SFG way.

The book ALL NEW SQUARE FOOT GARDENING is an easy read and the instructions are pretty simple. When you get to Sedona, please don't start building or filling your garden until you have finished reading the book. It is so much simpler to build and fill the SFG way first instead of realizing you might need to remove your mix.

While you are wating for you book to arrive, you might want to read this thread MELS MIX. <
Again, Welcome and please feel free to comment or ask questions. We look forward to hearing about your progress.

I would like to grow some baby bok (pac) choy but not finding much info on which varieties taste better, easier to grow etc.

any recommendations?


thanks!

Well now you all have me confused. I just discovered steamed bok choi this winter and loved it steamed with a simple garlic sauce. So got seeds for starting indoors and direct seed. I have one packet of seeds that says it is dwarf bok choi and only grows to about 4 inches. Is this the same seed as full sized but just marketing different?

I see it bok choi and bok choy and others, so no clue which is correct.

I think that in the US pac choi, bok choy, Chinese cabbage, etc whether baby or full grown, are generic terms and generally refer to the white stemmed leafy greens. Related to the common cabbage. For true differences I believe you'll have to look at the scientific classifications.

camprn, thanks for the response but I am way to lazy to get into the science of it. All I know is I really enjoyed it and that is the reason I wanted it fresh from my garden. If it looks big enough to eat....slice off and cook. lol

I use Baby Bok Choy cut in thin strips with matchstick cut granny smith apples - mix with shredded carrots and thin sliced green onions along with a cole slaw dressing (mine is mayonnaise, cider vinegar, honey, salt, pepper, and ground dry celery ((celery seed would work but my husband is allergic to it))). It makes a wonderful change from a regular cabbage coleslaw.

iiiigardener wrote:I use Baby Bok Choy cut in thin strips with matchstick cut granny smith apples - mix with shredded carrots and thin sliced green onions along with a cole slaw dressing (mine is mayonnaise, cider vinegar, honey, salt, pepper, and ground dry celery ((celery seed would work but my husband is allergic to it))). It makes a wonderful change from a regular cabbage coleslaw.

wooo! Now that's looks like an outstanding recipe! Thanks so much.
What size bok choy do you use doing this?

I used it when it was small. I was able to cut the outer leaves off, like you would spinach or leaf lettuce. When the leaves got a few inches big, I would harvest a six or so. The bok choy plus the tart/sweet taste of the granny smith were fantastic. I put it together one day when I had a few leaves and an apple that was on its way out. My husband loved it so much, that pretty much was all I did with my bok choy throughout the fall until the cold and the bugs finally had their way with it.

I've also found that if you mix the mayo with the honey before adding the rest of the ingredients, it makes it a lot easier to make the slaw dressing. I then add the cider and spices and then finally toss it with the slaw.