We are so thrilled to be able to offer this variety.
This mini pak choy is only 3 to 4 inches tall. It has crisp white stems and dark-green vitamin-rich leaves. It is fast growing (40 days), slow to bolt and heat tolerant and can be planted in spring, summer or fall. Its tiny size works perfectly for containers, Aerogarden and countertop hydroponic systems.
And the backstory of this little leafy green is food for the soul.
Hedou pak choy originates in Hong Kong. It is the “only truly local vegetable variety in Hong Kong” according to Dr. Anthony Tse of ‘Clover Seed’ (高華種子 Gaohua Seeds, established 1929, Hong Kong). Dr. Tse spent five years reviving Hedou pak choy, along with the ‘Tai Lung Experimental Farm’, the ‘Vegetable Federation’ (a cooperative of farmers) and ‘Produce Green’ (a local organic farming organization), all of Hong Kong.
Part of the story is out there via Baker Creek Seeds. But let us tell you the rest of the story.
Hedou pak choy was created by Deng Guanyou (see image), a farmer from the village Hok Tau, Hanling District, Hong Kong. It is named after the village Deng lived in, Hak Tau–which translated into Mandarin is Hedou (see note below). Around 1961, Deng Guanyou started to grow leafy greens between his rice fields. His son remembers that his father sowed and saved seeds from his best plants every year until 1967/1968. At this point, the pak choy finally met Deng Guanyou’s requirements and Hedou pak choy was born.
Deng shared his seeds with farmers in his village who then also grew his pak choy. By the 1970s and 1980s restaurants in Hong Kong were using Hedou pak choy and people were going out of their way to buy it at the market.
But after Deng died in 1972, and then his wife Qiu Dingyou stopped farming in 1982, which also coincided with the decline of agriculture in Hong Kong in the 1980s, Hedou pak choy fell out of circulation.
In 2012, a joint effort between the parties mentioned above carried out a rigorous “Hedou Restoration Plan.” They collected 9 different seed packages of Hedou pak choy from local farmers and began the process of re-selecting it. The family of Deng Guanyou personally selected the plants that best fit the characteristics of the original Hedou pak choy and seed was saved from those plants. Finally, after five years of selection, their efforts resulted in a stable and consistent variety reflective of Deng Guanyou’s pak choy, or as close as could be. Now farmers in Hong Kong have revived growing Hedou pak choy on a larger scale and it is back from oblivion.
Powerhouse Leafy Greens: Cruciferous leafy greens in Family Brassicaceae, such as Hedou pak choy, are a nutritional ‘Powerhouse’. Check out our link about ‘Powerhouse Leafy Greens’.
How to Grow: Sow indoors or outdoors at a depth of 5mm/1/4 inch. Keep moist until germination.
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A Note about Hedou’s Name: “The English name of the place name [Deng’s village] should be Hok Tau, but after the seeds were spread overseas, the origin and history of the variety were lost, so the English translation did not follow the Hong Kong translation and became similar to the Mandarin translation Hedou.”
