Oriental vegetables from seed

Oriental vegetables were almost impossible to find few years ago except in big-city Chinatown markets. Now, because of an intensifying interest in Oriental restaurants as well as home-cooked Chinese and Japanese menus, all that has changed.

Supermarket chains and stores in some areas stock the more popular, even if less exotic. Oriental vegetables in their produce racks.

Best of all, seeds for most of the common and hard-to-find Oriental vegetables are readily available from several mail-order sources, as well as some local nurseries and garden centers.

Here's where to get seed by mail:

* Evergreen Y.H. Enterprises, PO BOX 20727, San Jose, Calif. 95d160. Write for free list of 28 Oriental vegetable seeds. The cost at this writing is 69 cents per packet.

* Kitazawa Seed Company, 356 West Taylor Street, San Jose, Calif. 9f5110. Send postal card for free list of 50 Chinese and Japanese vegetable seeds and prices.

Tsang & Ma International, 1306 Old Country Road, Belmont, Calif. 94002. The Burpee, Stokes, or Shumway of Oriental vegetable seeds, this aggressive little company also stocks an impressive array of woks, hot pots, steamers, cleavers, chopsticks, exotic Oriental seasonings, and other kitchen items. Write Bill sher for Oriental vegetable seed and product information.