But it makes more sense when it is explained by the farmer herself, aglow under an umbrella shade-hat, surveying the progress of her long beans and melons on an unruly Chester County spread between West Chester and Kennett Square: Her name is Xiuqin Qin, which in her native province of Hubei (north of the more familiar province of Hunan) is roughly pronounced "Shu-chin chin," she says, touching a finger to her jaw. Westerners, on the other hand, invariably take a stab at Quinn, or Queen.
Her husband, Zuohong "Ed" Yin, who works as a chemist for DuPont, sells the produce (some of which also comes from the couple's second plot south of Coatesville) on Thursdays (3 to 7 p.m.) at Clark Park; Saturdays (9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the West Chester Farmers Market; and Sundays (10 a.m. to 2 p.m.) at the historic Headhouse, the centuries-old "shambles" at Second and Lombard, which celebrates its official grand re-opening today.
But it is chiefly Qin, a onetime farm girl with an agronomy degree in Chinese medicinal botany, who tends the plot. Daily she takes her hoe to the vegetable beds, battling the profusion of weeds, the whirlwind a farmer reaps for eschewing herbicides and chemical sprays.
To the east of her three-acre plot is Brandywine Creek, and next door is Pocopson Elementary School overlooking Route 926 and a crop of million-dollar mansions, small palaces, really, that contest across this rural stretch with lush cornfields and farmstands.
Xiuqin Qin is charming and lithe at 42, the mother of three daughters, dispensing traditional lore as we tour the ragged rows: The sweet Chinese cucumber? Cooling for summer; good stir-fried with eggs. Take a bite. The slightly sour purslane? Boil in water and wash with it to mitigate hot flashes. Bitter melon? Good for Chinese salad with vinegar (even cider vinegar), sesame oil and salt.
