Growing your own sarson ka saag and other desi veg - in the UK

[Yossarian]

Yes, it's that time of the year again in the UK. Getting your garden (or if you're lucky, your council allotment) ready for growing your veg and salads.

Questions:
1. Which types of mustard seeds are best for growing sarson ka saag (in the UK)?

2. Can you use the seeds from the usual Asian grocery stores? eg Seeds from brands like Natco, Fudco, TRS? Or do you need to buy packs of seeds from flowers and vegetable seeds suppliers which work out much more expensive?

Last couple of years, I've been able to grow honeydew and cantaloupe melons as well as watermelons in the greenhouse. Interestingly, the packs of melon and watermelon seeds I purchased from the store were useless.
However, the seeds I dried (on the kitchen windowsill) and used from the melons and watermelons I purchased to eat from Sainsbury's did the trick. They grew well and produced plenty of fruit.

One thing to note:
You'll need to pollinate the melon and watermelon flowers yourself by hand (there's video's on youtube explaining different methods of doing so) since there's no bees or butterflies in the greenhouse to do the pollination.

If you wish to try growing melons or watermelons just for fun, but don't have a greenhouse, all is not lost. You just need a pot placed on a windowsill in a room that gets plenty of sunshine. Plant the seeds in a pot, and then tie them to some long sticks so the plants grow upwards rather than trailing along the floor.

Use the same method to grow cucumbers. Try the mini varieties. A single plant properly looked after can produce cucumbers all summer long.

 

[Tera Gawaandi]

oh man I am also craving Saro'n da Saag, sick of eating Paalak.

 

[Yossarian]

Growing your own veg. has nothing to do with saving money. You don't. If you add in all the costs, plus your time, it works out much more expensive.

However, during the summer here in the UK, nothing beats going to your garden, picking a few fresh radishes, a lettuce or two, tomatoes and a couple of mini cucumbers in order to make a nice salad to go with your meal where you've also picked a few shoots of garlic and onions, some coriander leaves, along with potatoes and desi vegetables for your main dish.

Beats using ingredients from the fridge, that you bought from the supermarket days ago, and which were grown, picked and shipped perhaps weeks ago probably from thousands of miles away.