Tag Archives: Malabar Spinach

Easy Greens!

February 13, 2021 Munchkin

I realise that not everyone has the time or inclination to maintain a vegetable garden. However, I think that we can all agree that eating your own home grown greens is a good thing. There are many reasons: they can be grown organically, you get out of the house for fresh air and you can snip fresh greens as you need them. When I asked Gnome for other reasons to support growing your own greens, he said:

‘…Zombie Apocalypse…’

He actually continued to explain,

‘…that’s right…if there is an apocalypse…the vegetable market won’t be open. And if there happen to be zombies wondering about…even if the market was open…you wouldn’t dare go out! That’s why you need to grow your own greens!!’

Okay Gnome!! I think you might be displaying hints of cabin fever!!

Let’s swiftly move onto the topic of easy green vegetables to grow in Belize:

I am emphasizing the word ‘greens’ because generally speaking, these types of vegetables are packed with more vitamins and minerals. Okay, here is my list.

Malabar Spinach:

This is an easy green to grow. We grow it on a raised bed but you can probably grow it as a ground cover. It grows quickly from cutting and takes over the place. It likes a lot of water so it does very well down here in Toledo; however, it can still tolerate the dry season here. It has lots of good stuff like Vitamin A & C, Iron and Calcium. It can be eaten raw like a salad vegetable or cooked in soups,stews and stir fry. It has a mucilaginous texture when cooked lightly but if you don’t like this type of texture, just boil it for about 7 to 8 minutes.

Chaya:

This one so easy to grow. Just stick a one to two foot thick stem into the ground and it does its own thing. It takes well in any type of soil…even rock hard, clay un-fertilised earth. Once stuck into the ground, you can forget about it! It grows all year round. The leaves can be a bit tough so should be chopped up finely for soups and stews and in my opinion, boiled for more than half an hour. It does not have much of a taste but it is good for you.

Purslane:

This puslane grows wild in Belize but you can allow a patch of this to grow in your back garden. Again, this requires no maintenance; it is an edible sprawling plant that keeps on growing. It is good raw in salads…has a slight tangy taste to its crunchy texture. You can also cook it with eggs or meat. It is a very versatile vegetable and you can cook it any which way you please.

So, if you are not much of a gardener but would like something to snip from the garden, the above are my top three picks.

Belize, Farming, Food, Plants

Farm Food…

September 19, 2018 Munchkin

Hello! We have had about 10 days straight of dry, sunny weather and we have been working our little butts off! Today, we are sooo tired that we have decided to take the day off. This is how we look at the end of the day: Oh, so knackered, just want to sleep…

Please note that the Cat has not been physically working and looks like this all the time!!

Anyway, I have managed to wrestle back control over the trees in the yard and the pond area. They have been cleaned up, mulched and fertilised and now on a maintenance schedule. The next battle is the orchard at the back which was overgrown for two years because of machinery failure. Now that Gnome has brought the grass/bush back down, I have been piling up all the debris and branches. A big thank-you to Panda for helping out with this bit! This was the orchard…very bushy. Now, it has really opened up. The orchard mostly consisted of sapodilla trees but from cleaning up, it looks like we may have lost about 6 out of 20 of the trees. We will probably replace with a variety of fruit trees including golden plum, mango and rambutan. This is a picture of “before”…don’t have “after” yet…

Meanwhile, Gnome has been preparing the veranda for electricity and plumbing. We are moving the sink out of the house (not enough space) with a view to moving the kitchen out too (not enough space!). To add to all these plans within plans, we have decided (work in process and will take a couple of years to establish) to have two cooking areas. We will have a cooking area on the veranda with dedicated charcoal stoves…mostly set up for Gnome for Italian slow-cooking, wine-making and whatever he feels like cooking up. At some stage, I will have an outside Munchkin kitchen with a fire/coal pit so I will do most of the cooking over coals. There will be a dedicated sheltered sitting area outside for this and a little kitchen-bunker made from used tyres. 🙂 That’s the plan…

Anyway, the farm keeps on producing and each season brings something different to the kitchen table. We have a blackberry bearing right now; very difficult to harvest because the tree is so tall so I have to wait for the berries to fall to the ground. I tried thrashing the branches about with a big stick but I got too tired. If I can collect enough, I will get Gnome to make some wine:

It is also the season for peach-palm. The geese love these and actually wait underneath the palms for the fruit to fall and when this happens, this sets off a rugby-type game that they play. It’s fun to watch amidst the goosie shrieks and carrying-on. Run Goosie Run!!

We are eating them too. I cut them in half, remove the centre seed and boil them for about 45 minutes. Since, I do this in large batches, the cooked fruit is stored in the freezer ready for stews and soups.

Oh and the malabar spinach looks very healthy and has taken over a whole bed:

Aubergines (eggplants) are starting to produce; Pantry Cat is also looking after the vegetables…he keeps the iguanas away during the day…good boy, remember to wake up if you hear any stealthy crunch-crunch noises!!

Belize, Farming, Food, Plants

More Malabar Spinach!

December 7, 2015 Munchkin

Red.Bean.Munchkin

A Big Thank-you to everyone for all the Birthday Greetings!! It is really nice to receive such warm wishes!

And Life Continues so here is the post of the day:

We have got tonnes of Malabar spinach (Basella alba) on the farm and so this means we are eating this mostly everyday! You quickly have to learn different ways of eating it or else it can get very boring.

Here are a couple of ways in which we have been eating this green with imagination and innovation!

It is great uncooked as a salad accompaniment to home-cooked Pan-Fried Chicken!

Munchkin Fried Chicken With Malabar Spinach.

Easy Fried Rice with Malabar Spinach. Simply fry the rice and towards the end of cooking (last 2 minutes) add shredded malabar spinach and mix well.

It is wonderful growing, harvesting and cooking our food here on the farm!! And people ask us why we never go out for dinner…well, it’s because of this.

Belize, Farming, Food, Plants

Cooking With Malabar Spinach.

December 6, 2015 Munchkin

Munchkin.More.Eating

Malabar spinach (Basella alba) grows really well in Belize especially in wet places. Our patch is growing prolifically:

It is eaten as a leafy green; can be eaten uncooked in a salad or cooked lightly. This is a mucilaginous type of green which should not be over-cooked. When cooked with care (ie. very short cooking times of about 1 to 2 minutes) it adds taste, freshness and a soft crunch to a dish.

This is a recipe with pork, pumpkin and malabar spinach.

Served with Guatemalan imported linguini…but used in a noodle context since we are doing Chinese cuisine today:

Pork, Pumpkin and Malabar Spinach with Noodles:

Enjoy…I know I did!!

Belize, Farming, Food, Plants

Farm Vegetables and Fruit.

November 21, 2015 Munchkin

Together.Tank.Top

Hello Everyone!! I am always so pleased with our harvests on the farm; the farm still keeps producing bountiful crops and there is always something new and exciting to eat. It never ceases to amaze me how generous the land can be if you are willing to put in a bit of time and work.

Plenty of Cassava to harvest right now.

A whole bed of sweet potatoes and it gets better…you can even eat the greens like a spinach.

Voluntary wild papayas dotted all around the farm. Get them before the birds feast on them.

This is malabar spinach. Simply stir-fry, steam or boil; also makes a great salad green. It can be started from cutting and grows well in boggy areas. This is such an easy green to grow that I think everyone should have a patch of this in their garden.

This is a cultivated variety of purslane; it makes a lovely salad green and the edible flowers add colour to a dish.

We have been harvesting these for about 3 months solid from one tree…and it has started flowering again! These have a crunch just like apples.

It is absolutely wonderful growing our own vegetables and fruit to eat. I would not have it any other way!

Belize, Food, Medical Related, Plants, Saving Money

Eat Your Greens!!

October 17, 2015 Munchkin

People sometimes ask us what kind of green vegetables we grow on the farm to eat. This is mainly because, as doctors, we are always advising people to eat green, leafy vegetables for their high vitamin and mineral content which helps maintain healthy growth of cells and promotes healing. These people in turn, go to Punta Gorda market to look for them, only to find one common type of leafy vegetable to eat which is calalloo (Amaranth sp.).

This is fine to eat (though they still complain about the lack of variety) but also they are not found in such great abundance that they can be eaten in substantial proportions everyday. We eat about 100 to 200 grams (1/4 to 1/2 lb) of dried leafy green vegetable a day and this is the amount that we recommend to other people to eat.

Here in Belize, there is a plethora of greens that can be easily grown with the minimum of fuss and maintenance. You just need to regularly harvest (cut back) to stimulate growth and you will have them mostly all year round. The only time there might be a problem is the 2 months of dry season but this can be overcome with daily irrigation which should be possible for a small garden.

Malabar spinach is a climbing vine. It grows really well in wet areas. You eat the leafy parts and discard most of the fibrous stem. It can be eaten raw in salads, steamed or stir-fried.

Chaya plants, also known as tree spinach, needs little maintenance and even survive through drought without much irrigation. They are best chopped finely and boiled for about 20 to 30 minutes.

A more familiar green for people from temperate countries is kale. They need a little bit more care and raised bedding; nonetheless, they can still be cultivated in the Tropics.

This one is called Avuvo, apparently a well-known Nigerian green. The seed was given to us by somebody who had plans to grow Nigerian vegetables in Belize for an export market in the States. It grows prolifically.

Ok, guys go forth and start your own garden of fresh green leafy vegetables! You will find that they taste so much better than the bought stuff! As well as providing ingredients for a healthy diet, maintaining a garden will keep you fit (c’mon …don’t hire a gardener!) and you can save money on your grocery bill.

Casa Mascia Apothecary

Tag Archives: Malabar Spinach

Easy Greens!

Farm Food…

More Malabar Spinach!

Cooking With Malabar Spinach.

Farm Vegetables and Fruit.

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