A family holiday in Vietnam ignites a passion for leafy greens... as well as a deep attachment to the conical hat, writes Amy Willesee.

With the first of the cool-season beds planted and mulched, a stash of spuds and pumpkins tucked away for winter, and a freezer full of passata and pesto, the only pressing job remaining is to get the garlic in the ground right around the shortest day of the year. Once that's done I can sit back and relish the slowing of the season. This is what I dream of in February, when watermelon vines are strangling the eggplants, the tomatoes are freestyling their way across footpaths and the lettuces are bolting into mini Eiffel Towers. I dream of June. Of order. Of organisation. And of abundant crisp, leafy greens.

Earlier this year, my husband Mark and I took the kids to Vietnam. And along with the souvenir conical hats, I brought home a rejuvenated passion for herbs and leafy greens. No meal in Vietnam is complete without greenery on the side, and after eating that way for the month, I was converted.

I've always liked leafy greens, but I was never especially adventurous with them. I grow lettuce, parsley and basil, silverbeet and spinach; I make garden salads and stir kale through my soups. But the Vietnamese vegie menu is centred around a vast variety of greens that add zing to each mouthful and must surely deliver the equivalent of a multivitamin shot at every meal. Handfuls of piquant and minty leaves to stir through pho, addictive stir-fries of steamed greens in garlic, savoury pancakes stuffed with crispy lettuce – even fried spring rolls are wrapped in leaves.

So enamoured was I by the whole greens experience that we took a day trip out to a vegie farm in Hoi An. There, dressed in high-necked peasant shirts and conical hats (surely the most functional gardening gear ever), we were taken step-by-step through the growing process: from raking out the rows; to burying river weed a couple of inches below the growing surface to fertilise and retain moisture; through to watering the newly-planted seedlings with well water from two cans slung from a bamboo pole across our shoulders.

I was awestruck to discover such a wonderfully precise and efficient process. There was no machinery or chemicals, yet the soil, which looked almost like sand, had been producing herbs and vegies famed for their freshness and flavour for 300 years.

Since returning home, I've doubled the amount of annual herbs I plant, venturing into some uncharted territory. More than that, my mindset has shifted to see leaves as the centrepiece, rather than the garnish. And along with my newfound passion for herbs, my mementos from Vietnam include a commitment to a steady, one-foot-in-front-of-the-other approach in the vegie patch – and to gardening in my new conical hat.

Greens to try
Mustard greens: fabulous in stir-fries.
Warrigal greens: a spinach-like native.
Sorrel: a perennial used in soups, also fantastic fresh.
Water spinach: fantastic stir-fried.

Note Mustard greens, warrigal greens and sorrel contain oxalates, which are poisonous if eaten in large quantities. As a precaution, blanch these leaves for 3mins before preparing, then discard water.

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