This is not, however, a foolproof method. A few Asian crops can confuse you with their common names. In fact, it's an amaranthus and needs the warm to hot months of March through September to produce the tender leafy portions. Your best bet, therefore, is to seek out and use specific planting schedules, like the one provided with this article, for help with the crops most guides forget to include. Today's harvests are a mixture of vegetables from around the world but some of the most popular planting techniques are totally of oriental descent.
Oriental farmers plant every square inch of available space.
They use square, block and patch designs to plant their crops. It's an age-old gardening technique for modern times. Urban gardeners don't have a lot of room and they are looking for an easy way to produce their crops. The size of the average garden nationwide has shrunk from 600 to about 200 square feet. These small, compact gardens are ideal for today's cramped backyards, patios, entrance areas and even for the walkways between adjoining properties.