TORONTO - Your favourite ethnic dish doesn't have to come from a restaurant or even the grocery store. Unbeknownst to most, bok choy, bitter melon, long beans, and others can be grown in your own backyard here in Toronto.

For all the avid gardeners and foodies out there, learning about new varieties of greens and incorporating them into your spring plantings is just around the corner.

On Sunday, March 27, Lawrence Heights Community Centre in North York is holding its inaugural Seedy Sunday. It's an afternoon to learn about eco-gardening and to meet innovative non-profits, enjoy children's activities, eat delicious snacks, and exchange and buy seeds of all kinds – with a focus on organic, native and heirloom seeds.

Bok choy

Ahmed Bilal will be one of the presenters giving a twist on what can grow in Ontario. His workshop, "Growing World Crops in Your Garden," will present a diverse range of produce increasingly being grown in the GTA, Chinese hot peppers, Indian kaddu and fuzzy melon, to name only a few.

Other workshops will be on vermi-composting and how to build container gardens for small urban spaces, presented by northern Toronto non-profits, Afri-Can Food Basket and FoodCycles.

Originally started as a seed exchange, Seeds of Diversity Canada founded Seedy Saturdays and Seedy Sundays in the early nineties. The event has since spread across the country in dozens of communities. The theme of this year's event is 'Increasing access to seeds, gardening and good food,' especially reaching diverse communities that aren't always connected to the downtown gardening scene.

Chinese hot peppers

Seedy Sunday takes place on Sunday, March 27, from 1-5 pm, at Lawrence Heights Community Centre (near Allen Rd. and Lawrence Ave. West.)

Fragrant bitter melon with pork and black bean sauce
Serves 1-2 as a side dish

2 medium bitter melon, sliced lengthwise, seeded
2 oz. regular ground pork
1 tbsp light soy sauce, divided
1/4 tsp granulated sugar
pinch of kosher salt
1/2 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp Shao Xing wine
1 tbsp fermented chili garlic black bean sauce
1 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
3-4 dried red pepper pods (optional)
3 tbsp low-sodium chicken stock or water

Slice the seeded bitter melon into thin strips. Set aside. In a small bowl, combine the ground pork, 1 tsp of the soy sauce, sugar, salt, sesame oil, and Shao Xing wine.

In a large skillet or wok, heat the oil over high heat. Add the sliced garlic and the pepper pods and stir until the garlic turns golden brown and fragrant. Add the ground pork. Carefully mash the pork with your spatula until the pork breaks up into small pieces the size of pebbles. (This step is integral for the mouthfeel of the dish.)

Add the bitter melon, and cook until softened and lightly browned, about 5-6 minutes. Add the chicken stock or water if the pan seems dry. Add the remaining soy sauce, and the fermented black bean paste. Stir until combined. Serve with steamed rice as part of a meal.

TOP PHOTO: Bitter melon with pork and fermented chili garlic black bean sauce. (Recipe and photo from the thecookbookchronicles.com)