A Samoan gentleman who is using YouTube to teach other Samoans how to grow vegetables under different conditions when they move to New Zealand. Good ideas in the article for any gardener.
The 87-year-old YouTuber teaching gardening in Samoan from his Auckland garden | Stuff.co.nz
I have a new favorite green leafy vegetable these days. In Hawaii and the US, it is called Perpetual Spinach, but I was first introduced to it a few years ago as Perpetual Silver Beet in New Zealand. It is a member of the Beet family and so it does a have a light Swiss Chard/Silver Beet flavor. I tried growing the seeds a few years ago but they did not do well but decided recently to give it another go when I bought some young plants from a nursery here. I am pleased to say that these have done well, and I have become a big fan of this plant.
I only have four Perpetual Spinach plants growing in a large container along with two kale plants. Enough for one person meals. I added compost to the container before planting and I do have netting over the top, mainly to keep the white butterflies away from the kale, but also to keep the birds from getting interested in the spinach leaves. Now that the plants are a few feet high I am harvesting a few leaves at a time to add to salads and stir fries. I tested the taste of the Perpetual Spinach to see how strong the Chard flavor was by just eating leaves that had been boiled for five minutes. (This is the way it was eaten in New Zealand in my childhood years.) Yes, there is a bit of Chard flavor, but it is very light. I ate it with a grating of cheese on top and decided it made a very nice side dish. I am trying to eat more leafy greens these days to support my little gray cells. If you throw the Perpetual Spinach leaves into a stir fry or a quiche you do not notice the Chard flavor at all. I think this is why it is called Spinach in the US because it is a more familiar green leaf flavor for Americans. In New Zealand you grow up on the flavor of cooked Chard. (It was interesting to see the same in coastal Croatia last year although I found out that Chard cooked in lots of olive oil was very different!) As you would expect of any green leafy vegetable, Perpetual Spinach is high in vitamin A along with lots of other good nutrients including having good amounts of vitamin K.
The best thing about Perpetual Spinach is that it is a tough easy plant to grow. It is a biennial so you can expect it to live for two years. I have seen video of a gardener dividing baby plants off a large mature root like you would for taro. Hopefully my plants will get to the point that I can try doing that. It has big sized seeds which is helpful in spacing when sowing seeds which is the usual method of propagation. Space the plants 6-8 inches apart.
In the tropics Perpetual Spinach prefers the cooler time of the year and likes to be in semi-shade. Hot weather slows down leaf production. I have mine growing in the sparse shade of a curry leaf tree and it seems to like it there. The soil needs to have good drainage and a high organic content. High nitrogen feeding helps push out the lush leaves. The most important thing is to keep the soil moist, especially in the summer. Just as well my container is positioned near the hose by the kitchen door. Mulching is good to help keep the soil moist. You need to keep an eye out for slugs too. That means night time inspections around 10pm.
Aloha
Nov. 2024
Below is a photo of my latest Perpetual Spinach that I am especially proud of because I grew these plants from seed. I need work on my seed growing skills so am always asking master gardeners how they do it. I think if helped to not transfer the seedling out until they were several inches high and had some reserve of strength. My first lot of Perpetual Spinach in the photos above got overtaken by the powerful kale plant.
May Day in Hawaii is a day for wearing lei and also for lei making competitions. We have just finished our rainy months, so the vegetation is lush and green with lots of flowers in bloom. It is the right time for making lei. On our island, the big lei competition is down at Kapiolani Park (June 2021) in Waikiki but on our side of the island there is a local competition held in the Hawaiian village at the Polynesian Cultural Center. My daughter and I went over to check it out this afternoon and I thought I would put a few photos up sharing this bit of Hawaii life for those who do not live in Hawaii. Viewers from Hawaii are likely to be scrutinizing the flower combinations for ideas in making their own lei. Clicking on one photo will enlarge all the pictures for you to see closer.
False Heather is our tropical substitute for real Scottish heather. It has that same low bushy growth with the purple haze appearance. It has been around for decades in Hawaii gardens and usually used for edging. A year or so ago I was looking around a nursery for something with color but low growing for a large low container I have near the kitchen door. The container has a solar light standing in it so I needed something that would not cover the light that shines towards the doorsteps. I ended up buying three 4" pots of False Heather for the first time and am pleased at how they quickly filled up the container. After several months I did need to give them a trim, but the plant quickly recovers with new fresh growth. Overall, the plant choice was a good one and it makes a nice display. What made me absolutely delighted with the False Heather was to see all the honeybees it brought into the garden. I had no ideas that False Heather was a pollinators plant, but I have recently learned that honeybees like purple flowers. I really enjoy watching the happy and busy bees collecting their pollen in the sunshine as I walk past.
False Heather is native to Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras and, like many of the plants from that area of the world, it belongs on my tough plant list. This is an easy care, not fussy, plant. It does like to have good drainage, but it will tolerate poor soils and periods of dry weather. A bit of feeding and watering will make it happier though. In the tropics it can be treated as a perennial, but it does get a bit straggly over time so that changing out the plant every few years will improve your gardens appearance. False Heather can grow up to 2 ft high so could be used in a very low hedge. An occasional trim helps the growth stay low and full.
Usually, the flowers are purple but there are different varieties sold with colors going from white, lavender to dark purple. It does spread out so that if you were using it as an edging it needs at least a foot space between plants. I have not noticed seed pods on my plants, so it was a surprise to find a few baby plants springing up underneath the first planted ones. I guess the seeds are tiny, but I was happy to pot up the new free plants.
Aloha
Fa'aala is a small village on the island of Savaii in Samoa. (Often the name of the village is shortened to Fa'ala in daily usage.) I was lucky enough to spend 4 nights in this village recently while on a two-week trip to Samoa and I thought I would put up a few garden related photos for you. Remember that you can enlarge the pictures by clicking on one.
I lived a total of 9 years in Samoa during my younger life and Savaii has always been a special place for me. Over the years I have traveled to maybe a dozen different Pacific Island nations and I still think Savaii is the most beautiful of the islands. There are a few small beach type hotels on the island but I stayed in a lovely guest house in Fa'aala village where there is no sandy beach, but I could just relax and watch village life from my comfortable, cool and open walled house, by the round-the-island road. The owners also own a farm, so the wonderful meals are from home grown produce and meat. The guest house is called Florence's Place and you can contact them through Facebook. Savaii is still waiting for the tourists to come back after all the covid shutdowns.
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| The guest house, Florence's Place, that I stayed at. |
Samoans really go all out in having nice flower and shrub gardens around their homes. Villages care how they look, and you will notice how neat the gardens and lawns are kept and how colorful the gardens are. Is seemed that Savaii was especially big on new bright hybrid crotons which were just ablaze along the roads and wonderful when viewed from a local bus window. Bromeliads have also become the latest craze in Samoa. A few years ago, it was just a few ladies in the main town of Apia who were growing them. Now they seem to be in every garden, often perched on tree fern trunks or in recycled rubber tire containers. Savaii is rather volcanic, and it is interesting to see how gardeners use small volcanic rock rubble to mulch their gardens.....it should stop those roving chickens from scratching all the plants out too. Of course, it is not just ornamentals in the gardens but also fruit trees like breadfruit, papaya, bananas and citrus as well as things like sugar cane and lau pele. Then there are the plots of taro that are mostly found up the farm access roads that lead into the hills. It really was lovely to wonder around in the cool of the evening to view the gardens and it is hard to choose which of my many photos I should put up here.
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Aloha
I first heard of Roselle in Samoa in the 1970's. A few of the ex-pat ladies there were making a lovely Roselle jam that tasted rather like raspberry without the seeds. My next run-in with Roselle was on a two-month backpacking trip around Egypt in 2010 where I was introduced to Karkaday tea which was a lovely, sweet, ruby red tea that was usually served cold to tourists and was very refreshing in the hot climate. I also saw the dried, red leaves/petals for sale in enormous sacks at the markets there. Whether I understood at the time that this was the same thing as Roselle I am not sure. It was only after I got home and did some internet research that I fully understood what Karkaday was and how good it was supposed to be for you. A few years later I was watching a TV show about Mexican food and was surprised to learn that Roselle tea is very popular in Mexico as well. They call it Jamaica. Now I was able to make my own Kakaday once I started buying the tea bags from Mexican stores when I visited the mainland.
Come forward to today, it seems that Hibiscus/Roselle tea is becoming more popular in the US. I see bottles of it for sale at convenience stores and my baby boomer generation is drinking it to help lower blood pressure. Last year I actually got given two Roselle plants and so I have been researching about growing them and making my own Hibiscus tea. I have used freshly picked Roselle and I have also made tea with dried, deseeded calyces. One of the fun things about this blog is that I can pass on that gained information to you, and we are all learning. I must say though, that this Roselle subject has taken me down big rabbit holes on the internet....way more than any other plant I have written about. It is incredible how many YouTube videos there are on the subject from all parts of the world. Farmers in Africa that are getting into the Roselle growing and processing business. Cooks in Jamaica that are sharing their recipes for Sorrel/Roselle/Hibiscus tea...or add alcohol to make it a cocktail. They also make Sorrel cake which I wonder about. Could it be the ancestor of red velvet cake? Then there are those Aussie grandmothers who are making gourmet Roselle jam and sharing their techniques.
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| Leaves, calyces and flower of Roselle |
Already I know some readers are asking questions.....because I see them in the comment's column on You Tube videos. e. g. "Is this really Hibiscus tea? I thought it was made from a flower." "Is Hibiscus tea and Roselle/Sorrel tea the same thing?" So first off, I think we need to talk about the Hibiscus family. What is sold in the USA as " Hibiscus tea", even if there is a big Hibiscus flower on the box, is not made from your garden variety Hibiscus flowers. Now, I have heard of the red garden type flower being put in lemonade to make the lemonade turn pink, but it is not what is used for tea. I think the tea marketing companies should be blamed for the mix up. If they just called it Roselle tea or Jamaican Sorrel tea, we would all understand. To make things more complicated, there is another Hibiscus species whose flower can be used for tea. In the US it is called the Cranberry Hibiscus or the False Roselle because the plant is similar to the Roselle, but the leaves and flower have more pink color. You can see where people get mixed up. It is good to remember that the Hibiscus family is very large and several species are used for food. Okra is a good example where we eat the green seed pods. Another is my favorite, the Bele/Lau Pele/Tongan spinach (June 2015) where we eat the highly nutritious leaves. The Roselle plant and flower looks similar to both those plants but with the Roselle the red swollen calyx that forms at the base of the flower is what is used for the real "Hibiscus Tea" you are buying at the store.
Roselle is originally from West Africa and has an ancient history. It is popular in many tropical countries these days and in some countries is very much part of their cultural identity. Roselle grows best in a hot and humid climate with at least 12-16 weeks per year over 80 degrees F. and with 6 hours or more of sun per day. Just like Pigeon Peas, Roselle is daylight sensitive and only produces flowers and fruit when the autumn days arrive with shorter day lengths. In a very hot and humid climate it can be perennial, but it is usually grown as an annual. Therefore, it is important, that before you get carried away in the joy of harvest, make sure you select some large healthy seed pods to leave on the bush to ripen until brown to obtain seed for next year's plants.
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| My first two young Roselle plants. |
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| The calyces forming on the plant. |
Once harvested, the inner seed pod must be removed before using the calyx for food. The calyx "petals" can be easily pulled off with your fingers or you can cut around the base with a small sharp knife to lift the "petals" part off. In large farm production they seem to use a narrow, hollow metal tube that they run up through the bottom of the calyx and pop the seed pod out. At home you could use an apple corer to do the same. Most Roselle grown on farms is then laid out to be sun dried and this is how you see it sold loose in African markets or in supermarket tea bags. If you are not actually growing Roselle but want to try it out, I suggest the TAZO tea called Passion which is a truly beautiful drink. You can also find packages of dried, loose Roselle for sale on the internet.
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| The calyx "petals" laid out to air dry for a few days. |
There are apparently two colors of red Roselle....the Red one, which I have, or another one that is called Black because it is super dark red. I wonder if the Karkaday of Egypt is from the Black Roselle because the teas there seemed a much darker red. (There is a white variety too.) You will go on a worldwide adventure if you search for Hibiscus Tea on You Tube. Just by itself, Roselle does not make a strong-tasting tea. There is a faint fruity flavor rather like raspberry, but it really needs something added to make it more interesting.... although I have read that the Black Roselle is stronger in taste. Just adding sugar helps but I am trying not to do that. Some cooks add fresh orange juice or even blended dates to sweeten the tea. After trying out different recipes I have settled on the Jamaican way of adding ginger root for extra flavor. There are various other spices that can be added like cloves, cinnamon stick, orange peel, lemon or bay leaves etc. I also think the West African idea of adding pineapple skins for flavor is a brilliant idea and a way of putting them to use.
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| The dried Roselle calyces ready to be stored in a jar. |
The tea is made by bringing the water to full boil and then adding your Roselle, and also sugar if you want it, along with any spices. You could let it boil for a few more minutes more, or not, and then let it sit for at least a half hour and it can be left overnight. There are lots of customary ways to make it across the globe. Half a cup to one cup of Roselle per litre/ 4 cups of water are suggested. It is much the same whether you are using fresh or dried Roselle. When it is ready, you drain the liquid off through a fine sieve. You can drink the tea hot or cold. I put mine in big jars in the fridge to get cold and it stays good for several days. In the Carribean, alcohol is often added especially as the Roselle is harvested just in time for Christmas celebrations. On a recent radio cooking show, a lady from the US South was talking about a tradition of red drinks for Thanksgiving and Christmas by the African Americans of that area. I am sure the tradition goes back to Hibiscus tea and the Roselle that was brought along the slave routes to the US and Carribean from West Africa.
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| Hibiscus tea made. |
Roselle is not only good for hot and cold teas. It is a very popular jam in Australia. Other places make chutney with it. Again, You Tube is your friend for recipes. It can be used to make sauces, and in the days of early European settlers in the US South, it often was substituted for cranberry sauce for the Thanksgiving turkey. The Roselle can also just be used as a fruity vegetable to add to your stir fry and the tender young leaves of the plant can also be used the same way. I have seen Roselle leaves for sale in some markets in Southeast Asia. And then there is the Red Sorrel cake.
A lot has been said about Roselle tea being good for your health. Certainly, it has a long tradition in Egypt of promoting well-being. We know that it is full of antioxidants and has good amounts of vitamins C and A. There has been some evidence from modern testing that shows it to be helpful for high blood pressure, high cholesterol and inflammation of the liver. I get a little iffy about so-called super foods, but I figure all the good stuff we eat and drink help push the needle up on the scale of our health.
Aloha
My first few days in Croatia were in the capital city of Zagreb, after a scenic train ride from Ljubljana, Slovenia. Zagreb city center area is mainly made up of Vienna style buildings built over 200 years ago and is showing its age. Still, it is obvious that money from the growing tourist trade is being used to upgrade the city which is still recovering from an earthquake in 2020 as well. A big plus in the city are its many parks in which the locals were enjoying the last warm days of a long summer. I just loved the Zagreb Botanical Park which is over 100 years old and very much the early style of botanical parks where there is a huge collection of different labeled plants as a resource to university students. From Zagreb I took a day tour to Plitvice Lakes National Park. I had never heard of this park before going to Croatia, but the beauty of the place is just mind blowing. Plus, it was Autumn, so all the fall colors of the trees made it even better. Word must be getting out about the beauty of the place as the park is resorting to online reservations now to limit the numbers of people hiking each day in the park.
From Zagreb it was a 5-hour bus ride down to the coast. In the last hour of the trip, we changed from green farmlands to a very Mediterranean coastal landscape below rocky mountains. It seemed every garden there had olive and mandarin trees in them. The mandarin trees were loaded with gold fruit, and it was harvest time for the olives so you could see a few people concentrating on harvesting from one tree at a time with a net spread out on the ground under the tree. Cabbages and Swiss chard seemed popular in vegetable gardens. I wish I had photos of these gardens, but I was viewing them from a moving bus. Newly picked Mandarins were cheap in the markets. Shelled walnuts and dried small figs were also cheap and seasonal, so I bought an ongoing supply of them for my snacks while on the move. Something to balance all the goodies I was buying at their wonderful bakeries.
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| Zagreb Botanical Park |
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| Zagreb Flower Market |
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| Zagreb Produce Market The red umbrellas are traditional and symbolic of the city. |
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| One tiny corner of the Plitvice Lakes National Park |
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| House and outbuildings at Rastoke village |
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| House entrance in the alleyways of Split |
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| A roof garden in the old city of Dubrovnik as seen from the top of the city walls. |
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| Harvest time at a Mandarin orchard. |
Aloha
