Growing stirfry vegetables is easy and fun!Like all leafy vegetables, stirfry vegetables love nitrogen, so rich compost or added poultry pellets will get them growing well. They are also very quick to grow, and some like the Chinese cabbage, will be ready in just a few short weeks. The planting area can be prepared the same way we recommend for no-dig organic gardening. Just in case you missed that part, we will recap for you. *Stomp the grass flat if you need to in the area to be planted, then sprinkle some blood and bone, or seaweed fertiliser on the grass. This will help to bring up the worms. Cover all with a layer of newspaper, at least 4 or 5 layers of paper thick. Hose the paper down so it doesn’t fly away in the breeze.
Click here for our Hereb and Garden newsletter and FREE lifestyle Books! Then acquire two bales of hay, with some lucerne (alfalfa) content if you can find it. Lucerne helps put nitrogen into your garden as it breaks down. Break the hay into square pallets, 4 or 5 inches thick, and place on top of the manure, just as if you were laying tiles! Water again. You are now finished except for the planting of your herbs and/or vegetables. Make a small hole between the pallets of hay, in the corners where they join. Fill with a handful of compost or rich soil, and plant your seeds or seedlings. You can plant companion herbs in-between the seedlings if you wish. A few spring onions or garlic bulbs planted here and there help keep away bugs.* It really is that simple! The stir-fry vegetables that you plant will be the ones you and your family like. But don’t forget the climbing stirfry vegetables either, snow peas and beans.
*The Japanese bunching onion is similar to rakkyo, but more popular in Western counties, ad it more closely resembles chives. *Garlic is widely used in stirfries, and easy to grow in most climates. Just poke some cloves in the planting area, here and there amongst everything else. It helps keep the bugs away too. *Galangal is a ginger from the Malay peninsula. It grows as a dense clump, and is a good perimeter plant. Plant rhizomes into rich soil. In warmer areas it grows well outside, in cooler areas in can be grown inside in a tub in a warm sunny spot. The rhizomes, young shoots and leaves are all used, it has a spicy and pungent flavor. You can buy dried rhizomes in Asian grocery stores. 
*Amaranth or Chinese spinach is easy to grow. The leaves are used fresh in salads, but usually boiled for a couple of minutes and eaten. Don’t use the water, because it can contain toxins. *Chinese celery is a sort of scraggly celery! In tropical regions it is a winter crop. Keep the soil damp, or the stalks will be tough. Just chop up and add to stirfry! *Ginger does best in sandy well-drained soil. It can be grown from a shoot of any rhizome. *Snakebeans are easy to grow in warm climates. They are stringless, cut into one inch pieces and added to stirfries, or cook separately. *Pea eggplant grows to about 5 foot high, a small shrub. The fruits are small and slender, and are just sliced up and added to stirfries. *Watercress grows well in running water, but can be grown in a pond. Grows easily from cuttings, placed in water. Eaten raw in salads, or added to soups. In Japan it is dipped into tempura batter and fried. It can also be mixed with green vegetables and steamed. *Water spinach grows well in a pond, and leaves and young stems are added to stirfries just before serving. I grew it for years in a pond in the middle of the vegetable patch. Very tasty, but only needs a couple of minutes cooking. *Chinese cabbage grows very quickly, and there are many cultivars. Sow in late summer. Harvest at any stage, leaving the central leaves to keep growing. Leaves are chopped and used in salads, soups and stirfries. It is a major source of vitamins.
*Minzuna or Japanese mustard grows easily from seed, and will provide fresh salad leaves all year round.
*Chinese flat cabbage. This has a dark green leaf, and there are many cultivars. It is rich in vitamins and minerals, and used mostly in stirfries. Because it grows close to the ground, sometimes it has grit in the leaves from hosing, and needs to be well washed. *Chinese white cabbage, or Pak Choy has many cultivars. It is very easy to grow, and can be eaten fresh or raw. *Chinese broccoli is very popular, and grows very quickly. Like most of the Asian green vegetables, it can be grown in a pot inside, or out on the patio. Many people grow them in polystyrene boxes where they can be placed for easy access.
*Ceylon spinach or climbing spinach is another climber, and will climb over anything. Leaves are bright green and tasty, and young stems and leaves are used extensively. There is also an attractive red variety which turns green when cooking.
*Chinese pumpkins are easy to grow and have a lovely flavor. It is added to stirfries, cooked by itself, and sometimes sliced thin and cooked in tempura batter. There are many more stirfry vegetables of course, but these ones will get you off to a good start, and they are very easy to grow! Plant herbs widely throughout your stirfry vegetable garden, because herbs are always used in Asian cooking. Corriander, arrowroot, chillies, edible chrysanthemum, limes, tumeric, lemon grass (great flavor, and easy to grow!) Vietnamese mint, fennel and many others. Just plant them where you can find a spare space! Happy healthy stirfries, Patrick ps. If you plant a green tree in your heart, a singing bird may come!
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