A Visit to an Organic Chinese Vegetable Garden

A few years ago, I had the chance to visit an incredible backyard vegetable garden belonging to some of my mom's friends.

Jump to:

• Sweet Potato Greens
• Japanese Pumpkin / Kabocha Squash
• Bottle Gourds / Calabash
• Okra and Chinese Garlic Chives
• Cucumbers
• Chinese Long Beans
• Tomatoes
• Growing Asian Vegetables at Home

They had transformed practically the entire backyard into a lush garden filled with vegetables commonly used in Chinese and other Asian cooking. There were sweet potato greens, garlic chives, Chinese long beans, gourds, cucumbers, tomatoes, and more growing everywhere.

And apparently everything was growing very well because they couldn't give the vegetables away fast enough! Luckily for me, that meant I got to bring some home too.

One of my favorite things about visiting the garden was seeing what these vegetables actually look like while they're growing. Many of them were ingredients I'd eaten my entire life but had never seen growing on the vine or in the ground before.

Here's a look at some of the vegetables we found in their garden.

Sweet Potato Greens

Sweet potato greens, also called sweet potato leaves, are the tender leaves and stems of the sweet potato plant.

They're commonly eaten in Taiwanese, Chinese, and other Asian cuisines, usually cooked very simply. One of my favorite ways to prepare them is stir-fried with garlic until just tender.

Growing up, I remember my grandpa refusing to eat sweet potato greens because he associated them with something that had traditionally been fed to pigs on farms when he was younger. Today, though, sweet potato leaves are a common vegetable and can often be found at Chinese and other Asian grocery stores during the warmer months.

They have a mild flavor and tender texture that makes them perfect for a quick stir fry.

Try this recipe: Stir Fry Sweet Potato Leaves - One of the easiest ways to cook sweet potato greens, stir-fried simply with garlic for a flavorful vegetable side dish.

Japanese Pumpkin / Kabocha Squash

When I first visited this garden, the owners told me these were pumpkins, but they didn't look anything like the large orange pumpkins I associated with Halloween.

They appeared to be Japanese pumpkin, also known as kabocha squash. Kabocha has green skin and dense orange flesh with a naturally sweet, almost chestnut-like flavor.

It's popular in Japanese and other East Asian cuisines and can be roasted, simmered, braised, added to curries, or made into soup.

Try this recipe: Kabocha Squash Soup (Japanese Pumpkin Soup) - A creamy, comforting soup that highlights the naturally sweet flavor of Japanese pumpkin.

Bottle Gourds / Calabash

There were so many bottle gourds growing in this garden!

Bottle gourd, also called calabash, grows on long sprawling vines and can develop into all kinds of shapes. The ones here had that classic rounded, pear-like shape, and some of them became enormous.

Young bottle gourds are eaten as a vegetable in many Asian cuisines. They have a mild flavor and tender texture once cooked, which makes them great for absorbing the flavors of soups, stir fries, and braised dishes.

Apparently these plants were producing faster than the owners could give the gourds away. Looking at the size of the ones they harvested, I can see why. 😂

Okra and Chinese Garlic Chives

The garden also had several raised beds. In this one, okra was growing on the left and Chinese garlic chives were growing on the right.

Okra is used in Chinese cooking too, especially in quick stir fries. It cooks fast and has a tender texture with a little natural sweetness.

Try this recipe: Okra Stir Fry (炒秋葵) - A simple Chinese veggie dish with garlic and dried chili peppers that comes together in just a few minutes.

Chinese garlic chives, also called Chinese chives or garlic chives, have long, flat leaves and a stronger garlicky flavor than regular chives. They're commonly used in dumplings, pancakes, stir fries, and egg dishes.

If you pick up a bunch of garlic chives, here are a few ways to use them:

• Stir Fry Bean Sprouts and Garlic Chives - Crunchy bean sprouts and fragrant garlic chives in a quick Chinese vegetable stir fry.
• Chinese Garlic Chives Pancakes - Savory pancakes filled with garlic chives, eggs, and dried shrimp, then pan-fried until crispy.
• Pork and Chives Dumplings - Homemade dumplings filled with juicy ground pork and plenty of fresh garlic chives.

Cucumbers

It was also cucumber season when I visited, and there were cucumbers growing right on the vines.

Fresh cucumbers are used in all kinds of Chinese dishes, from crisp cold salads and pickles to quick stir fries. Their mild flavor and crunchy texture work especially well with garlic, vinegar, chili, sesame, and savory sauces.

If you have cucumbers to use up, here are a few of my favorite ways to cook with them:

• Easy Chinese Cucumber Salad with Chili Crisp - Cool, crunchy, spicy, and garlicky, with chili crisp for an extra punch of flavor.
• Chinese Smashed Cucumber Salad (拍黃瓜) - A classic Chinese cucumber salad with crisp smashed cucumbers tossed in a savory, tangy garlic dressing.
• Shrimp Cucumber Stir Fry - Marinated shrimp stir-fried with crunchy cucumber and garlic for a quick and easy meal.
• Chinese Shredded Chicken Cucumber Salad - Tender shredded chicken and crisp cucumbers tossed in a simple sesame, garlic, and rice vinegar dressing.
• Beef Cucumber Stir Fry - Tender sliced beef stir-fried with crunchy cucumber and garlic.

Chinese Long Beans

Right next to the cucumbers were Chinese long beans.

I'd eaten these plenty of times growing up, but until visiting this garden, I had no idea how they actually grew.

And yes - they really do just hang there!

Chinese long beans are also known as yardlong beans, although they aren't always literally a yard long. They're much longer and thinner than standard green beans and have a slightly different texture.

They're commonly stir fried, especially with garlic, chilies, ground pork, or other savory ingredients.

You'll often find them at Chinese and Southeast Asian grocery stores, particularly during the summer.

Tomatoes

Last but not least, tomatoes! The garden had lots of small tomatoes growing, including cherry-type tomatoes in different stages of ripeness.

Tomatoes are technically a fruit, but they're used in plenty of savory Chinese dishes. Their natural sweetness and acidity work especially well with eggs, tofu, noodles, rice, and simple stir fries.

Some of the tomatoes in the garden were still green, while others were perfectly ripe. Naturally, I couldn't resist picking one and eating it right there. It was incredibly sweet and juicy - one of those little moments that reminds you how amazing a freshly picked tomato can taste.

Naturally, I couldn't resist picking one and eating it right there.

It was incredibly sweet and juicy - definitely one of those moments that reminds you how different a freshly picked tomato can taste compared with one that's traveled halfway across the country to reach a grocery store.

Tomatoes are also used quite a bit in Chinese home cooking, especially paired with eggs in the classic tomato and egg stir fry.

f you have fresh tomatoes to use up, here are a few of my favorite recipes:

• Chinese Tomato Egg Stir Fry - A classic Chinese home-cooked dish with fluffy scrambled eggs and juicy tomatoes in a simple sweet and savory sauce.
• Tomato Egg Noodles - Tomatoes and scrambled eggs served with springy noodles, either dry-style or as a comforting noodle soup.
• Tomato Tofu Stir Fry - A simple Chinese dish made with tofu, juicy tomatoes, garlic, and green onions.
• Tomato Fried Rice - An easy fried rice made with chopped tomatoes, eggs, veggies, garlic, and soy sauce.
• Tomato Egg Drop Soup 番茄蛋花湯 - A quick and comforting soup with tomatoes, delicate egg ribbons, and a savory broth.

Growing Asian Vegetables at Home

Visiting this garden made me appreciate these vegetables in a completely different way.

Many of them, like Chinese long beans, garlic chives, sweet potato greens, and Asian gourds, were foods I'd eaten for years without ever thinking much about how they actually grew.

Seeing them growing just a few feet away from each other in someone's backyard was both fascinating and inspiring.

You definitely don't need a huge farm to grow Asian vegetables at home either. Depending on your climate and available space, many vegetables commonly used in Chinese cooking can be grown in raised beds, containers, or a backyard garden.

And if your garden ends up producing anything like this one did, you may eventually have the opposite problem: figuring out how to eat everything fast enough!