Malabar Spinach

 

Note from the Author: This was overdue, I think.

 

 

The flowers are ok-ish and not all that special.

The semi-succulent leaves can get pretty big, I would advise using a pair of snippers to harvest only the leaves.

Many online sites say the berries taste good, I'm guessing they're ok with them being bland.

Red Malabar spinach has pronounced red stems.

Common Name: Malabar Spinach

 

Other Common Names: Ceylon Spinach, Alugbati, Indian Spinach, Vine Spinach.

 

Botanical Family: Basellaeae (The Malabar Spinach Family)

 

Botanical Latin Name: Basella alba ‘rubra’

 

Description & Habitat: 

Malabar Spinach is a non-native annual vine that readily resows itself in warmer parts of North America and can become a nuisance. Malabar Spinach is native to the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia and New Guinea. Generally speaking Malabar Spinach is a fast-growing warm season vine that can produce vines as long as thirty-three feet long in a growing season under optimal conditions. Its leaves are heart shaped, semi-succulent and are borne in an alternate arrangement.  The stems and leaf petioles have a red coloration that makes them stand out more. The plant’s flowers are small pink and white colored and are spheroid shaped and lack petals. The berries produced from the flowers are a dark purple color and are edible but do not taste like much of anything. In zone 8B, this plant will return from seeds yearly and its seedlings emerge in late spring or early summer. The Malabar Spinach vines are vigorous and the plants are fairly tolerant of average to low quality soil. In cultivation his plant is fairly drought resistant and reacts to nitrogen application rapidly.

 

Special Toxicity Note:  Malabar spinach is not known to be toxic to pets but it does have a small amount of oxalate crystals which are destroyed by cooking.

 

When & What to Harvest: The leaves are what you are after.

 

Related Plants: Green Malabar Spinach (Basella alba), this is the pure green version of the plant, it can be use in the exact same way.

 

Recipe:

          The Forager Chef has an excellent recipe for Malabar Spinach, check it out at the link below.

 

https://foragerchef.com/malabar-spinach-recipe/

 

 

Additional Information: (If applicable)

https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/malabar-spinach-basella-alba/

 

 

Where to get Seed or Bare Root Plants:

https://www.rareseeds.com/spinach-red-malabar

 

With all that garden goodness covered this is the part of the blog where I have to advertise for the Fayetteville City Market. Now I know you readers probably don’t much like advertisements, but my booth at the City Market helps to cover the costs of running the test garden and literally maintains the Research & Development budget that is used to bring you the information that has made up the backbone of this blog.  In addition to being able to process card payments we now take CashApp payments so your payment options for my product have tripled. With that said; if you want to get some GMO-free, Organic fruit, herbs, flowers and perennials, come on down to the Fayetteville City Market on 325 Maxwell Street in downtown Fayetteville between the hours of 9:00 am and 1:00 pm on Saturdays. Even in bad weather the market goes on though you might have to look for me under the ‘arches’ of the Transportation Museum’s front entryway.

 

Fresh Foods

Fig Leaf Tea, 8oz

 

Herbs

Oregano

Sage, Common

 

 

Fall Plants

Collards

Kale, Scotch Blue

Kale, Ragged Jack

Broccoli

Brussels Sprouts,

 

Garden Supply

Live Mushroom Compost, 1 Gallon

Live Mushroom Compost, 3 Gallon

 

Plants Coming Soon:

-Fall Food Plants-

 

 

 

How to stay in Contact with Us!

All you need to keep up with all our activities is to have a Nextdoor account and to look for the ‘Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville’ group and ask to join! You don’t have to live in Fayetteville to join us! Feel free to ask all your garden questions of our knowledgeable membership and post your cool garden pictures.

 

Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville

 

Also please take a gander at the YouTube version of this blog:

The Videos: Look Here

>Newest videos (1): Culantro

 

With all of the updates, blog posts, community announcements and the main topic handled remember that Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville’s meetings are still going on! Our next (unofficial) meeting is September 19^th at the Fayetteville City Market at 325 Franklin Street between 9:00 am and 1:00 pm, or at North South Brewing on the same day between 1:00 and 5:00pm.

Perilla

 Note from the Author: I’m surprised I’ve not done a file for this one.

 

 

Common Name: Perilla

 

Other Common Names: Beefsteak Plant, Shiso, Japanese Basil.

 

Botanical Family: Lamiaeae (The Mint Family)

 

Botanical Latin Name: Perilla frutescens

 

Description & Habitat: Perilla is a non-native annual in the Mint family that is considered an invasive species in North Carolina. Perilla is native to Asia and is often called Japanese Basil, although this particular common name more references how it is used and not the scent and flavor of the plant’s foliage.  Typically you will find two varieties of this plant in common cultivation, a purple-leaf type which can have a reddish color likened to beefsteak. The other variety is the green-leaf type which physically looks like the purple one but is plain green. They taste and smell the same give or take but the big difference is that the flowers are more visible and thus showier on the purple-leaf variety. In general flowers should be pinched regardless of foliage type to prevent this plant from escaping cultivation. A cultivated specimen of this plant can grow up to three feet tall in a growing season and require two or more repottings so its roots can keep expanding. In general Perilla’s leaves are roughly heart shaped and tend to have very visible serrations on the leaf margins. Some leaves at the tip may have a bit of a tail. The foliage is aromatic to the touch and there are no other herbs that smell like Perilla though sometimes stinging nettle can appear somewhat similar. With moderate care Perilla can become pretty bushy and may make for a good indoor plant as only winter’s cold stops it’s growth.

 

Special Toxicity Note:  Perilla is toxic to Dogs, Cats, Horses and Cattle.

 

When & What to Harvest: The leaves are what you are after.

 

Related Plants: ‘Tricolor’ (P. f. ‘Tricolor) a barely scented ornamental variety.

 

Recipe:

While I don’t have a formal recipe for Perilla leaves here’s a good one for pickling them.

 

https://mykoreankitchen.com/korean-pickled-perilla-leaves-kkaennip-jangajji/

 

Additional Information: (If applicable)

https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/perilla-frutescens/

 

 

Where to get Seed or Bare Root Plants:

https://www.highmowingseeds.com/organic-non-gmo-korean-perilla.html?srsltid=AfmBOope2fTkP3GvEYOBdYC_EH6BkBj5NspPiBkWy6fPSx7gpCU_Ledg

 

 

With all that garden goodness covered this is the part of the blog where I have to advertise for the Fayetteville City Market. Now I know you readers probably don’t much like advertisements, but my booth at the City Market helps to cover the costs of running the test garden and literally maintains the Research & Development budget that is used to bring you the information that has made up the backbone of this blog.  In addition to being able to process card payments we now take CashApp payments so your payment options for my product have tripled. With that said; if you want to get some GMO-free, Organic fruit, herbs, flowers and perennials, come on down to the Fayetteville City Market on 325 Maxwell Street in downtown Fayetteville between the hours of 9:00 am and 1:00 pm on Saturdays. Even in bad weather the market goes on though you might have to look for me under the ‘arches’ of the Transportation Museum’s front entryway.

 

Fresh Foods

Peppers, Hybrid Lemon Drop

Figs, Magnolia

Figs, Kadota

 

Herbs

Basil, Sweet Genovese

Oregano

Prickly Pear, Spineless

Sage, Common

 

Summer Plants

Calibrachoa, Caliburst

Dahlia, Figaro Mix

Madagascar Periwinkle, Tattoo Blueberry

 

Fall Plants

Collards

 

Garden Supply

Live Mushroom Compost, 1 Gallon

Live Mushroom Compost, 3 Gallon

 

Plants Coming Soon:

-Fall Food Plants-

 

How to stay in Contact with Us!

All you need to keep up with all our activities is to have a Nextdoor account and to look for the ‘Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville’ group and ask to join! You don’t have to live in Fayetteville to join us! Feel free to ask all your garden questions of our knowledgeable membership and post your cool garden pictures.

 

Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville

 

Also please take a gander at the YouTube version of this blog:

The Videos: Look Here

>Newest videos (1): Purple Tomatillo

 

With all of the updates, blog posts, community announcements and the main topic handled remember that Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville’s meetings are still going on! Our next (unofficial) meeting is August 29^th at the Fayetteville City Market at 325 Franklin Street between 9:00 am and 1:00 pm, or at North South Brewing on the same day between 1:00 and 5:00pm.

Okra, Iraqi Bamia

 

Common Name: Okra

 

Other Common Names: Common Ivy, Gobbo, Gumbo, Ivy Gum Plant, Ladies Fingers, Ochro, Okro and, Nkruma.

 

Botanical Family: Malvaeae (The Hibiscus Family)

 

Botanical Latin Name: Abelmoschus esculentus

 

Description & Habitat: The original species of Okra is believed to be native to the area of the country now known as Ethiopia in Africa. Given that Okra is not cold hardy the chances of you encountering it in the wild are low unless you are near the Equator possibly in zone 12 which is Hawaii or Puerto Rico. Generally speaking Okra is an upright plant that can grow up to ten feet tall in cultivation but this can vary based on if the plant has ideal conditions and how it has been bred. For example the ‘Iraqi Bamia’ in today’s sample has been bred for business via heavy branching, so it may not grow any taller than five or six feet tall. In last year’s crop one specimen had the central stalk dominance genes and grew to nine feet tall. This tall type was not allowed to produce seed because its height made harvesting pods more difficult. In general though Okra has a roughly palmate leaf that can be up to eighteen inches across with a similarly long petiole, depending on the specific variety the color of the foliage can vary, Red Crimson has red foliage of course, some varieties have a bit of red in the stems and a red splotch where the petiole meets the leaf. Iraqi Bamia is a solid green color, but the pods mature to a white color that seems to be a biological response to preventing the seeds inside from getting sun scorched. The color unsurprisingly does not hold up in cooking but probably might if the pods are pickled.

 

Special Toxicity Note:  There are no known toxicity issues with this plant.

 

 

When & What to Harvest: With Iraqi Bamia you want to harvest pods when they are 2-4” long and visibly a white color.

 

Related Plants: There are many varieties of Okra out there.

 

Recipe:

For this post I’d like to link to a basic Gumbo recipe. Gumbo can be made a lot of ways and starting with a basic one is the best way to figure out what you want.

 

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/216888/good-new-orleans-creole-gumbo/

 

 

Additional Information: (If applicable)

https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/abelmoschus-esculentus/

 

 

Where to get Seed or Bare Root Plants:

https://store.experimentalfarmnetwork.org/products/iraqi-bamia-okra

 

 

With all that garden goodness covered this is the part of the blog where I have to advertise for the Fayetteville City Market. Now I know you readers probably don’t much like advertisements, but my booth at the City Market helps to cover the costs of running the test garden and literally maintains the Research & Development budget that is used to bring you the information that has made up the backbone of this blog.  In addition to being able to process card payments we now take CashApp payments so your payment options for my product have tripled. With that said; if you want to get some GMO-free, Organic fruit, herbs, flowers and perennials, come on down to the Fayetteville City Market on 325 Maxwell Street in downtown Fayetteville between the hours of 9:00 am and 1:00 pm on Saturdays. Even in bad weather the market goes on though you might have to look for me under the ‘arches’ of the Transportation Museum’s front entryway.

 

Fresh Foods

Peppers, Hybrid Lemon Drop

Figs, Magnolia

Figs, Kadota

 

Herbs

Basil, Sweet Genovese

Oregano

Prickly Pear, Spineless

Sage, Common

 

Summer Plants

Calibrachoa, Caliburst

Dahlia, Figaro Mix

Madagascar Periwinkle, Tattoo Blueberry

 

Fall Plants

Collards

 

Garden Supply

Live Mushroom Compost, 1 Gallon

Live Mushroom Compost, 3 Gallon

 

Plants Coming Soon:

-More Fall Food Plants-

 

 

 

How to stay in Contact with Us!

All you need to keep up with all our activities is to have a Nextdoor account and to look for the ‘Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville’ group and ask to join! You don’t have to live in Fayetteville to join us! Feel free to ask all your garden questions of our knowledgeable membership and post your cool garden pictures.

 

Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville

 

Also please take a gander at the YouTube version of this blog:

The Videos: Look Here

>Newest videos (1): Red Brandywine Tomato

 

With all of the updates, blog posts, community announcements and the main topic handled remember that Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville’s meetings are still going on! Our next (unofficial) meeting is August 22^nd at the Fayetteville City Market at 325 Franklin Street between 9:00 am and 1:00 pm, or at North South Brewing on the same day between 1:00 and 5:00pm.