Hey, I’m a czech American farmer. I’ve always been interested in international crops that grow well in New England. At my farm, the Asian eggplants grow better. Also celtuce is an amazing crop. The southeast Asian crops seem to do well with adapting well to both hot and cold temperatures, which do really well as opposed to the standard us varieties which only do well in the areas near the equator. The eastern Europeans do really well with cold weather crops, and the African/central american crops do really well during summer (okra and tomatillo do amazing in urban heat islands). Hungarians make the best peppers lol.Sorry if this is off topic, just always interested to learn about the home gardens around the world. People growing food for their family will always have the best advice for people like me. Non toxic chemicals, most yields, easiest crops.
https://www.reddit.com/r/japan/comments/vpr4jo/any_interesting_crop_info/
7 comments
Might have better luck asking on r/gardening or r/farming
I’m into this question. Look up heirloom Kyoto vegetables “kyo-yasai” like manganji pepper or kugyo green onion. Have you considered shiso/ooba, myoga, or kabocha pumpkin? Japanese okra is delicious too. Im sure Japanese people in your area would pay lots of money for fresh Japanese vegs. I know you’re into summer veggies but look into Japanese sweet potatoes. No one is growing types like Anno in the US. Please dm me if you have more questions, I have suggestions!
I don’t know whether or not you can grow it, but [komatsuna](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komatsuna) is a great Japanese leafy vegetable. I like it way better than spinach.
r/japanlife might be helpful and interested. Sometimes they get uppity about the subreddit being only for those living in Japan, but they do let it slip if it’s interesting like this one. There’s a stickied question thread up all weekend.
Also there should be a pretty active forum of foreigners living in the Japanese countryside sharing all kinds of info, can’t find it right now but ping me if you’re interested and I’ll try to find it tomorrow.
In Canada we do have shiso now as it’s getting popular in drinks. Mizuna grows well, shungiku as well. I love Japanese eggplant. Zone 4 and it’s amazingly productive. Daikon is really popular here as fall crop. I start them outdoor end of July and cover them when frost is nearby in October. I tried Gobo but I failed. But this plants grows well in our climat in the wild (more bitter though) so I guess I should try again.
Things that may be worth experimenting with: persimmons, sesame, golden kiwis, big hakusai cabbages, nagaimo (Chinese yam), shungiku (chrysanthemum leaves), one of the many Japanese mushrooms that is not shiitake or matsutake.
Azuki and edamame