Yongchun market is nice. I was suprised not to find any “herbs”, like mint, basil, fenel, parsley… Anybody has some recommendations for where to find that ?
[quote=“Bobarctor”]http://maps.google.com/maps/place?q=%E6%B0%B8%E6%98%A5%E5%B8%82%E5%A0%B4&hl=en&ie=UTF8&cid=6777601398194220463
Yongchun market is nice. I was suprised not to find any “herbs”, like mint, basil, fenel, parsley… Anybody has some recommendations for where to find that ?[/quote]
JianGuo flower market, see my ‘culantro’ post.
[quote=“finley”][quote=“Bobarctor”]
Yongchun market is nice. I was suprised not to find any “herbs”, like mint, basil, fenel, parsley… Anybody has some recommendations for where to find that ?[/quote]
JianGuo flower market, see my ‘culantro’ post.[/quote]
Also the flower market on Wenlin road in Shipai. Or any decent flower market, I suspect. It’ll be potted.
[quote=“Tempo Gain”]
Also the flower market on Wenlin road in Shipai. Or any decent flower market, I suspect. It’ll be potted.[/quote]
It is nice to have it potted, but… anyway to buy it freshly cut ?
[quote=“Bobarctor”][quote=“Tempo Gain”]
Also the flower market on Wenlin road in Shipai. Or any decent flower market, I suspect. It’ll be potted.[/quote]
It is nice to have it potted, but… anyway to buy it freshly cut ?[/quote]
You can usually find freshly-cut “western” herbs at City Super or Jason’s or Breeze Center Supermarket. However, the prices can be quite high, and the quality not that good - the potted plants are a better way to go, and if you just use them twice, you’ve often saved money. (Something like three pots for 250NT?)
The rosemary I’ve bought has thrived and proven nearly impossible to kill. The oregano plant is doing OK. The basil plants seem to die back to a single stem within a couple of weeks, but then that single stem keeps going forever - I have no idea why. But just plan to prepare a lot of pesto with that basil plant right away.
Basil needs water every day, and you need to prune all the tips to keep them bushy, and to prevent flowering. If you let them flower or don’t water them enough, they don’t thrive. Basil also tends to die off in Jan. - Mar., as it doesn’t like the cold, IME.
My broad-leaf parsley always dies.
Basil needs water every day, and you need to prune all the tips to keep them bushy, and to prevent flowering. If you let them flower or don’t water them enough, they don’t thrive. Basil also tends to die off in Jan. - Mar., as it doesn’t like the cold, IME.[/quote]
I suspect it was because of the cold: I bought a gorgeous looking plant about a month ago, and made sure to water it every day, and still within a week all but one of the branches had shrivelled away. The one remaining branch is doing fine, but wouldn’t go very far if used for pesto!
I’m finding the flat-leaf parsley has a massive “turnover” (?): it grows and dies and new sprouts keep growing. Oregano ditto, but at a slower pace.
[quote=“lostinasia”]
I suspect it was because of the cold: I bought a gorgeous looking plant about a month ago, and made sure to water it every day, and still within a week all but one of the branches had shrivelled away. The one remaining branch is doing fine, but wouldn’t go very far if used for pesto!
I’m finding the flat-leaf parsley has a massive “turnover” (?): it grows and dies and new sprouts keep growing. Oregano ditto, but at a slower pace.[/quote]
lol, i bought three pots: basil, parsley and mint.
I think they like hot but not sun too much…
In the flower market you can get 11 for NT$300.
Basil needs water every day, and you need to prune all the tips to keep them bushy, and to prevent flowering. If you let them flower or don’t water them enough, they don’t thrive. Basil also tends to die off in Jan. - Mar., as it doesn’t like the cold, IME.[/quote]
You have to make sure the pots you keep your basil in drain well, and you don’t want to keep the soil too wet. I don’t think you need to water it everyday, just don’t let it dry out. They don’t like the cold, either. When you bring it home, repot it in a larger pot so the roots have more space. Look up illustrations of how to harvest it, so you promote growth. I have three kinds growing right now. It’s really nice to watch it grow once the weather warms up.
Bump - any tips for where I can buy potted herbs, especially western basil and flat-leaf parsley, during the week? I know I can go to Jianguo Flower Market, but I believe that’s only open on weekends.
Preferably closer to the north side of town. In Danshui would be even better!
If Google is guiding me right, the Wenlin Flower Market (文林花市) is at #153 on Wenlin Road, closest to Mingde Station, open every day 9am-6pm: would they be likely to sell western potted plants?
Google also translates a review with “For people living in Taipei North is a good place to buy pot”, which makes it sound like far more interesting a place than I would have expected.
They definitely do. A guy in the back row (it’s kind of a U) has the most. Usually $80 per plant. You can get pots but you might have to look elsewhere for pot. They do have very nice dirt.
Cool, thanks. Will give it a look later this week.