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Winged Bean

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Winged Bean (aka four-angled bean)

Winged Bean (Web)Psophocarpus tetragonolobus syn. Goa Bean

Origin: hot, humid tropical Madagascar and Asia

Plant: Sept – Oct – into pots initially

Harvest: April – May. Young 4-angled pods with wavy margins can be picked for eating at any stage. Do not disturb the lilac flowers, as they fall off quite easily. Allow some of the first beans to mature on the vine for seed saving. Tubers contain 20% protein and taste like early season potatoes. Can be eaten raw or cooked. Young pods, flowers, leaves, vine tips and mature seed are all edible. To improve germination, sandpaper seeds or soak in hot water until swollen.

Taro

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Taro (aka talo, dalo and dago)

Taro (Web)Colocasia esculenta

Origin: hot, humid tropics of the Indo-Malayan region

Plant: Sept – Oct only

Harvest: July – August when the leaves begin to look tatty and about 3 leaves left. The corm is harvested 8-10 months after planting. Starchy corms are a good source of calcium and iron.  Wash the taro after harvesting and allow to dry.  Harvested taro corms can be stored in a dry airy place for 2 – 3 weeks at most. After this time they will rot.  Roast or cook whole to preserve nutrients. Poi is a lactic ferment made from boiled taro corms. The leaves can be picked 2-4 weeks after planting and take about 6 weeks to mature. They can be boiled, pulverised in a blender then added to soups, casseroles and stir-fries. They are traditionally used as food wraps and cooked in a mumu or cooking pit. Young leaves will take 5-10 minutes to cook while older ones 15-20 minutes before the oxalate crystals have been rendered neutral. Can be frozen.

Tahitian Spinach

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Tahitian Spinach

Tahitian Spinach (Web)Xanthosoma brasillience

Origin: hot, humid tropics

Plant: Sept – Feb

Harvest: Nov – May

The Tahitian spinach leaf is better than taro and cocoyam as a “tropical green” as it has the least amount of irritating crystals and does not need a long cooking time – ten minutes is adequate.

Serving the leaves with coconut milk or cream will help the body to use the Vitamin A, which is a fat-soluble vitamin. Harvest the young leaves and cook in stews, casseroles and leaf wraps. This plant does not have an edible corm.

 

Sweet Potato

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Sweet Potato

Sweet Potato (Web)Ipomoea batatas

Origin: wet, cool highlands of South America

Plant: Sept – March

Harvest: approx. 5 months after planting. Use a digging stick when harvesting. The wood won’t damage the tubers. Leave on the ground for a week to sweeten up in the sun. They can be left in the ground until needed or stored in baskets in a well-ventilated cool, dry, dark area for up to 6 months.

 

Malu Khia

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Malu Khia (aka mulukhiyya, Egyptian spinach or salad mallow)

Malu Khia (Web)Corchorus olitorius

Origin: Dry, tropical India

Plant: Nov – Dec only

Harvest: Feb – May

Propagate: will self-seed.

Tropical green. Annual bush.  Leaves are nutrient rich in potassium and protein but have a light mucilage taste. Young leaves can be used in salads, cook older leaves like spinach. Dried leaves are a very nutritious food for livestock.

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