I drove by a Korean market (H Mart) on an errand so of course poked my head in. It was very different than the other Asian market I visited--less fish, more beef; and a wider variety of leafy greens. While you might find a single Korean grocery in quite a few places, H Mart is a chain; here is their directory: http://nj.hmart.com/stores/.
These photos aren't great; the lighting in this H Mart is horrible.
As always, a reminder I live in an extremely high cost of living area, "good" prices for me may seem outrageous to you. I'm feeding a single Russian tortoise, housed entirely outside.
There were plenty of chicories, if that's your thing, although I didn't think the prices were great. Particularly as these are all easily found in my "regular" grocery store.
Dandelion prices were pretty good for my area; these were very large bunches. Red dandelion is pretty much the same as green, in case you are wondering.
Turnip greens (without the bothersome vegetables!) were a good price for the size.
I liked the size and price of these squash leaf bundles—smaller than my farmers market—just about right for a small tortoise to consume in a week. These didn't look as fresh to me as the rest of the produce although I imagine they would pop back after a few minutes soak in water. My tortoise wouldn't care how they look anyhow. I would absolutely buy these on a regular basis.
A huge bundle of mustard for the price. More than a small tortoise would eat over a couple of weeks but no worries, I love a bowl of beans and greens.
These yampea looked exactly like sweet potato leaves to me. I couldn't find a good description of the plant on Google though; I kept finding vague references to a true yam, which isn't good tortoise food. Because I am familiar with sweet potato, I'd be comfortable feeding this but wouldn't recommended it to a new owner. Better safe than sorry.
Yampea was in the organic section so the price was high for the size and I didn't see it with the non organic vegetables. That said, I've gotten a lot of mileage out of this vegetable (soooo much fiber). If H Mart was my only option, I'd buy it at this price a few times a year.
Ong Choy isn't a choy as I usually know them (bok choy, pak choy—all fom the brassica family and available at a regular grocery store). It's actually water spinach, a great tortoise food. This was a large bundle, even so, it was highly priced in the organic section. I'm sure if I'd poked around some more I'd have found it more cheaply with the regular vegetables. This vegetable isn't available at my farmers market so I'd definitely buy some here for occasional variety.
Red shen choy is also not a choy. It's red amaranth. Another large bundle with a high price in the organic section. Amaranth is a do not feed or an occasionally feed, depending on where you look; I feed it occasionally. I'd feed it even less at this price, as it isn't a favorite! Again, I'm sure I could have found it for less with the other vegetables.
Of course I'm always looking for new foods to try. These sesame leaves (from the plant that grows the sesame seed on your hamburger bun) looked like possible tortoise food so I bought some. Sesame turned out to be in the Lamiales order of plant. This order includes some herbs like lavender and mint, snapdragon, the safe jasmines, lilac, and also some safe trees, like olive. It also includes at least one do not feed in the Tortoise Table: ash tree. That warning is for cows though, not tortoises. Other members feed it. I decided sesame was safe to try and offered a stem. Addy sniffed and sniffed so it must have seemed interesting. When she finally took a bite, she not only spat it out, she used her legs to wipe it off her face. She's never done that before: a complete dud.
Next I grabbed some dropwort. All the other "worts" I've found before have been okay, plus I liked the name. Dropwort turned out to be in the Apiaceae family, the family that includes celery, carrots, and lots of herbs. These plants are edible but strongly scented; I thought she wouldn't eat it, she won't eat wild carrot or most of the herbs in that family. She surprised me by eating some right away but the romance was short lived. I had to toss the rest. At least it was cheap.
Looking for some protein? Pea sprouts! Soybean sprouts! And the more familiar mung bean sprouts; in sizes all the way up to a ten-pound bag! Here is the place to go!
I was distracted by a work emergency during this trip and neglected to buy anything I knew she'd it eat for sure. Whoops!
These next photos are truly awful but H Mart had a large selection of seeds for many of these vegetables. If I was a gardener, I'd give these a shot as many of them are closer to "wild" food than what is for sale at my nursery.
These photos aren't great; the lighting in this H Mart is horrible.
As always, a reminder I live in an extremely high cost of living area, "good" prices for me may seem outrageous to you. I'm feeding a single Russian tortoise, housed entirely outside.
There were plenty of chicories, if that's your thing, although I didn't think the prices were great. Particularly as these are all easily found in my "regular" grocery store.
Dandelion prices were pretty good for my area; these were very large bunches. Red dandelion is pretty much the same as green, in case you are wondering.
Turnip greens (without the bothersome vegetables!) were a good price for the size.
I liked the size and price of these squash leaf bundles—smaller than my farmers market—just about right for a small tortoise to consume in a week. These didn't look as fresh to me as the rest of the produce although I imagine they would pop back after a few minutes soak in water. My tortoise wouldn't care how they look anyhow. I would absolutely buy these on a regular basis.
A huge bundle of mustard for the price. More than a small tortoise would eat over a couple of weeks but no worries, I love a bowl of beans and greens.
These yampea looked exactly like sweet potato leaves to me. I couldn't find a good description of the plant on Google though; I kept finding vague references to a true yam, which isn't good tortoise food. Because I am familiar with sweet potato, I'd be comfortable feeding this but wouldn't recommended it to a new owner. Better safe than sorry.
Yampea was in the organic section so the price was high for the size and I didn't see it with the non organic vegetables. That said, I've gotten a lot of mileage out of this vegetable (soooo much fiber). If H Mart was my only option, I'd buy it at this price a few times a year.
Ong Choy isn't a choy as I usually know them (bok choy, pak choy—all fom the brassica family and available at a regular grocery store). It's actually water spinach, a great tortoise food. This was a large bundle, even so, it was highly priced in the organic section. I'm sure if I'd poked around some more I'd have found it more cheaply with the regular vegetables. This vegetable isn't available at my farmers market so I'd definitely buy some here for occasional variety.
Red shen choy is also not a choy. It's red amaranth. Another large bundle with a high price in the organic section. Amaranth is a do not feed or an occasionally feed, depending on where you look; I feed it occasionally. I'd feed it even less at this price, as it isn't a favorite! Again, I'm sure I could have found it for less with the other vegetables.
Of course I'm always looking for new foods to try. These sesame leaves (from the plant that grows the sesame seed on your hamburger bun) looked like possible tortoise food so I bought some. Sesame turned out to be in the Lamiales order of plant. This order includes some herbs like lavender and mint, snapdragon, the safe jasmines, lilac, and also some safe trees, like olive. It also includes at least one do not feed in the Tortoise Table: ash tree. That warning is for cows though, not tortoises. Other members feed it. I decided sesame was safe to try and offered a stem. Addy sniffed and sniffed so it must have seemed interesting. When she finally took a bite, she not only spat it out, she used her legs to wipe it off her face. She's never done that before: a complete dud.
Next I grabbed some dropwort. All the other "worts" I've found before have been okay, plus I liked the name. Dropwort turned out to be in the Apiaceae family, the family that includes celery, carrots, and lots of herbs. These plants are edible but strongly scented; I thought she wouldn't eat it, she won't eat wild carrot or most of the herbs in that family. She surprised me by eating some right away but the romance was short lived. I had to toss the rest. At least it was cheap.
Looking for some protein? Pea sprouts! Soybean sprouts! And the more familiar mung bean sprouts; in sizes all the way up to a ten-pound bag! Here is the place to go!
I was distracted by a work emergency during this trip and neglected to buy anything I knew she'd it eat for sure. Whoops!
These next photos are truly awful but H Mart had a large selection of seeds for many of these vegetables. If I was a gardener, I'd give these a shot as many of them are closer to "wild" food than what is for sale at my nursery.