What Is Chicken Feather Greens? A Detailed Guide to Growing Them

When it comes to chicken feather greens, many people may find the name unfamiliar, because it is not often heard in daily life, and some have never even heard of it. But at a glance, everyone feels it should be a kind of vegetable. So, what are chicken feather greens? How do you grow them?

I. What Are Chicken Feather Greens?

1. Chicken feather greens are a leafy green vegetable, a variety of Brassica rapa subsp. pekinensis (Chinese cabbage) in the Brassicaceae family, and a common name for the tender seedlings of baby bok choy (green bok choy). This name is relatively common in the Shanghai area, with other names including green bok choy, baby bok choy, Shanghai bok choy, and rapeseed greens.

2. Chicken feather greens are a home-style vegetable. The leaves are about 30 cm long, oval or oblong in shape, and blue-green in color, with narrow leaf stalks. They originated in China and are cultivated in various regions, most widely in the south, with supply available all year round, but the largest supply is in spring and summer.

3. Chicken feather greens are a vegetable that prefers cool conditions and is relatively tolerant of both low and high temperatures. They can be planted and brought to market almost all year round, but those marketed in January, February, and March are more nutritious, with a soft and glutinous, pleasantly fresh taste and a hint of sweetness.

4. Chicken feather greens are a popular vegetable. They can be stir-fried plain, served cold, stir-fried with shiitake mushrooms, button mushrooms, or bamboo shoots, or made into soup. They have a fresh fragrance and can be eaten by most people. However, they should not be eaten raw, and the cooking time should not be too long. Because they are cooling in nature, people with weak and cold spleen and stomach, or with loose stools, should not eat too much.

5. Chicken feather greens are a nutrient-rich vegetable. They are rich in calcium, phosphorus, iron, potassium, selenium, vitamin B6, vitamin C, carotene, pantothenic acid and other substances, which can promote bone development, accelerate metabolism, enhance the body's blood-forming function, and maintain normal life activities.

6. Chicken feather greens are a vegetable with considerable medicinal value. They can treat conditions such as lung-heat cough, body fever, thirst, chest tightness, restlessness, poor appetite and constipation, and abdominal bloating. They can also reduce hives, and are especially suitable for people with lung-heat cough, constipation, erysipelas, lacquer dermatitis, or boils, as well as those who are calcium-deficient.

II. How Do You Grow Chicken Feather Greens?

Chicken feather greens can be grown all year round, but the varieties suitable for different seasons differ, as do the management methods and harvest times. Here is a general introduction to how to grow them.

1. Timing: In spring, sowing is generally done in greenhouses from early November to late February, and varieties with strong winter hardiness should be chosen. In summer, sowing is generally done from April to August, and heat-tolerant varieties should be chosen. In autumn and winter, sowing is generally done from August to November, and either heat-tolerant or strongly winter-hardy varieties can be chosen according to the climate.

2. Land preparation: The growing period of chicken feather greens is relatively short. One week before planting, apply decomposed human manure and urine as a base fertilizer, then make beds. The bed surface should be broken up fine and raked level. If it is summer, during the season of typhoons, heavy rain, and high temperature and drought, deep furrows and high beds should be made to facilitate irrigation and drainage.

3. Sowing: One day before sowing, water the soil thoroughly. Then broadcast the seeds at a sowing rate of about 2 kg per mu. In summer, the sowing rate should be higher. After sowing, lightly rake the bed surface, then firm it by treading or patting. If it is a high-temperature season, shade netting should be used to cover from sowing until emergence.

4. Management: From sowing until emergence, keep the bed surface moist, and water 1-2 times a day, lightly. After emergence, apply topdressing 2-3 times, with about 5 kg of urea per mu. Pests and diseases should be controlled. The main diseases are viral disease and downy mildew, and the main pests are aphids, cabbage caterpillars, and diamondback moths.

5. Harvest: Their growing period is relatively short. If sown in spring, they can generally be harvested in 40-50 days. If sown in summer, they can be harvested in 20-25 days. If sown in autumn, they can be harvested in 25-30 days. If sown in winter, they can be harvested in about 45 days.

Chicken feather greens are simply the tender seedlings of baby bok choy. They taste soft and glutinous, pleasantly fresh and fragrant, and have both high nutritional value and high medicinal value. They can tolerate both low and high temperatures and can be planted and brought to market all year round. The growing methods above are introduced in the hope that they will be useful to everyone.